Something I Shouldn't Have Written
by P'aedt
Summary: Heh Heh.. this thing is years old. Most of this falls under the banner of Look what I found on my harddrive! NOTE: Chapter 13 was skipped because, well, 13 IS apparently an unlucky number. Most of Chapter 2 was removed because it made my friend's mothe
1. Chapter 1

Hey! Folks! Rowlings! A Genius! Not Me! Some Say! Still It's! True That! I Like! Her Stuff! Enough To! Make My! Own Story! Based On! Her Works!

The sucky stuff, as usual, is mine.

Chapter 1 The Beginning:

It was still ninety degrees out though the sun had fallen an hour before. As Lauren Kats looked outside the window of her room, she remembered a less dark time. For all she knew, Lord Mitalian was coming back. Not even Lord Voldemort had been defeated, and Mitalian was, well, more in control of his life force. But these dark times had their own joys. The book had been recovered and everyone was back relatively safe. James had gone out with his crush, and Amanda had handed the book over to James, and stalked off, not heard from again. Ah, but it was summer, the usually magical time of year, when no one has school.

Not that summer was more magical in any way for Lauren, James, Lord Mitalian, Lord Voldemort, or Amanda. They were magical humans, humans with the molecular structure keyed to manipulation of the positive and negative energies associated with witchcraft and wizardry. Needless to say, even their school year was magical, as they went to a learning place of high repute. They went to the selective Davis Acadamy for Witchcraft and Wizardry, a private foundation. These wizards were more in tune to the rest of the world than their British counterparts. In fact, it was very common for a wizard to hold a muggle, adjective meaning non-magical, jobs. Still, like the Brits, they were very secretive about their talents, but for other reasons not mentioned here.

Lauren crawled out onto her porch, and felt the light breeze in the summer night. It was the third week of summer vacation, and already she missed her school. She had come off of a rather large adventure that had landed her in the middle of an enchanted forest amongst some mutated deer, well, it was a long story. It was almost as long as the story of her trip to Mt. Everest, or even the story of the fifty-seven year old born three hundred years before he died. Strange things followed wizards, as they were strange in themselves. Though, if you have read the story of the boy who lived, as most assuredly you have, you would see that the wizards of America seemed to have stranger quests. It was not common, or so Lauren thought, as she had almost been killed by another wizard three times now, for her adventures were probably a little frowned upon if not downright illegal. She knew that James' theft of the Crystal from the Museum of Natural History three weeks earlier had been a felony, though she wasn't in on the move.

Still, as she curled her broom jacket around herself, her life was exciting. More so, as James had a knack for getting into trouble he couldn't get out of alone. James, of course, was a pathetic excuse for a wizard, and somehow had managed to get passing grades that year. He had wanted to go out with Lauren for a couple of years, but her heart was sold to the mysterious Ben Bunk. James hated Ben, not because of Lauren, but because of the style of books he had caught Ben reading. But Lauren invariably ignored James, as most people did, and went out with Ben. The two were now going steady. James was, or had, gone out with Liesel Knoose, the quidditch star. Liesel, or Capn' K, played Keeper on the Varsity team, and James played Chaser. James and Liesel were easily the best two players in the state, if not the nation. Both were able to play professionally, but James seemed to think he was going to be a Silverlode guru, whatever that meant. And Liesel wanted to go into muggle science.

Lauren wanted to be a nurse at a magical hospital. She didn't feel she had the resolve to become a healer, but she loved to work with people, and she loved medicine. She thought back to the spells she had learned, and the classes she would take this year. She would start her fourth year at a seven year school, and she would be taking Intro to Nursing, Practical Magic-Medicine, the standard array of base classes, no NEWT's or HIILL's for her. She would also be pursuing her other interest: music. Though she played the oboe, she was still a good musician, and many who heard her loved her. She could fly a broom better than average, though not gifted at quidditch, and she was an above average witch. In fact, she was the fifth in her class, following a couple of random people, Liesel, and Ben. James was dead last.

Though that was no longer true. James had been studying, or something. He met that man who claimed he was born two hundred ninety three years ago, also said that he had been on the planet fifty-seven years, and died. At least Adi Musali's information about the Lost Book was correct. He also seemed to have an ability to teach the most inept of students, as James was now ranked in the world. Specifically, he was now ranked at number ten world wide. His mentor, Adi Musali, was apparently number three. Amazing numbers. James had also single-handedly passed both every single O.W.L. there was, and every N.E.W.T. as well. It wasn't an amazing feat, the Acadamy had always rolled both years into one. It was amazing that James had done it. James even zoomed to the top of the class! He was one of ten people recommended for the transmutation class, a much more difficult class than the standard HILL (Humongously Impossible Learning Levels) transfiguration, as transmutation was more of a style than a school. In that class, people learned to make wishes, like the spell of the Living Wish. They would also, in their last year of college, learn how to stop time. Only, no one ever made it that far. There were maybe five wizards in the world capable of stopping time, and only one of them ever really did.

She was about to go back inside her house when she saw it. She had been staring into space, worrying about Ben, and James, and, well, everything. She was a worrisome person, and tried to make everything okay. It was the glint of a broom light. Not a plane; there were special laws against having lights not distinguishable from a plane's lights, but it was certainly a broom light. Who could it be? James was going to England for the upcoming year because he heard that their school system was tough, and he wanted to try it. He was going to some school called Frog Warts, or something like that. He would certainly travel by port key, right? There was no way that he…

"Lauren! C'mon! We're going across the country!" James shouted, a huge smile on his face.

"What the HELL? It's, like, ten!" Lauren screamed back.

"So put on a jacket! The one I gave you for your birthday!" James shouted.

Her prized possession, the Polar Ice flying Jacket. It was made from a thin, black skintight fabric that was enchanted to heat you right up. It cost James a fortune, but it was really nice. She also grabbed her Nimbus Two-thousand racing broom. She had always bought British brooms, even though the American version of the Nimbus 2000, the Longbow 5, was a little better for long-distance flying.

"All right, who's with us?" Lauren asked.

"You. At least until the Continental Divide. You need to turn back then. Don't ask questions, just agree." James said. He had founded this little group of marauders just before the hunt for the Lost Book. "Leila, and of course, our favorite, Laurel."

"Yeah. And we won't stop to pick them up, either." Laurel said.

"Let's go." Lauren sighed, and they kicked off into the night air.

The warm night air brushed about them as the scenes of the ground were brought about with sparkling lights. The small, insignificant city of Sacramento seemed large, and wonderful this high up at night. As they continued, they crossed Lake Tahoe, in all its splendor. Even Reno was pretty. Finally, after passing through Colorado, they landed around the rockies.

"Lauren, you need to head back tomorrow." James said.

"Why?" Lauren asked.

"Wade. Do it." James was surprisingly fierce when he said this.

"All right, let's see you girls make a camp. What do we want for dinner; Venison or Rabbit?" James asked.

"Just get something, you jerk!" Laurel said.

As the girls made the camp and activated certain protection charms, James killed a deer, and used spell work to cut the meat up. A few hours later, they were all asleep.

The next day, after Lauren was gone, James and the girls flew east. When they reached the coast, they rested again, and the other girls headed back. James flew across the ocean alone, and arrived at Number 12. He then proceeded to Hogwarts, where he stayed the remainder of the summer.

A/N: It sucks. For now. But this chapter was already written, and I'm sorta (as in really,) lazy. So bear with it. Just read the next few chapters. This one was my worst. No kidding. Please, please don't hate me for it. PLEASE?

Oh, and all of this chapt. Was basically mine, with the single, noteworthy exception of the name Voldemort. And the only reason 'Lord' wasn't included in that is because titles like Lord cannot be owned by people. But she does get credit for the full name, I guess, Lord Voldemort. But still, I think I used the name about twice.


	2. Chapter 2

Lauren: here is part 2, entitled "Parvati and Tyranny," the first is called "Unsettling Developments." Before you post this, please, please change the summery. By saying "fantasies" it makes me sound like one helluva perv. How about this for a summary:

"Harry is too stupid to survive the fifth book, so how does he survive? Obviously it is because someone is helping him survive, and keeping him from being expelled, and also bringing Cho to her senses. Hear his story, the story of a 15 year-old foreign exchange student from America, and watch as he battles his way through Death Eaters, Keeps Umbridge from expelling Harry multiple times, fights Voldemort twice, shows why Sirius' death is not Harry's fault, and watch him win his way into Hermione's heart. (and in only a fraction the chapters as HP 5 too! Don't you just love us?) The author is Psycopath.02, and he wants suggestions and ideas. He also may write his own fanfiction on his account, but he decided to start this one here."

Oh, and tell Ben to shut his fucking mouth. If no one mouths off to the moderator (and only Ben would,) it's okay. After all, I don't use last names, and Lauren, James, Ben, and Laurel are common names! I know at least two of each, and I know about 5 James', a couple of Jacobs, and there are about 6 Daniel's at our school! Anyway, here it is, Chapter Two, Parvati and Tyranny. Oh, and as you read this in word, change all instances of "Umbrage" to "Umbridge"

I still love leisel!!!

Part 2:Parvati and Tyranny

It was the day the Train arrived, and James could not go to the feast. He felt bad, of course, but he needed to investigate something in the Forbidden Forest. However, he did manage to arrange for a note to be delivered to Hermione:

Hermione; guess what? I have classes with the 5th year Gryffindors! How cool is that? Hey, listen, glad I met you back in July, we should have lunch this week. Let me know. I know that everyone has lunch in the Great Hall, but you'll see. Don't bring Harry or Ron, or food. I know how to conjure my own! See ya then! -James

Hermione read this not during dinner, and decided she would have to decline as she had schoolwork to do.

The next morning, James got up early and headed down to the Great Hall. He had a great breakfast and saw Seamus.

"Hey, Seamus, how's it going?"

"I can't believe what Harry's saying about You-Know-Who, He just can't be back! Even the Daily Prophet agrees with me."

"You know, you can't ever believe a newspaper or any media source; they only exist to sell themselves. A newspaper would run stories about how the planet Earth had just blown up if they thought that would sell their papers. This sort of bias is very prominent stateside, and I for one was about to campaign against it."

"Really? Why didn't you?"

"I suddenly had a severe attack of apathy, very uncommon in the states, but I suffer them constantly. I'll get fired up to do something and, well, suddenly not care at all."

"Oh, right, but you surely don't believe Harry, do you?"

"Yes, yes I do, but not because **he** said Voldemort was back," Seamus turned white, "but because I have been seeing an increase in Death Eater activity, and surmised that Voldemort" (Seamus blanched again) "must have returned, you know, it's just a name. If he isn't even around anymore, why be afraid?"

"You're crazy" Seamus got up and left, then, a large number of people entered the Hall.

Among these people was a pair of girls whom James had never seen before. He was thinking about the HILL defensive theory work, and whether or not he should ask Leila to floo down here. These particular girls were rather hot, and one considerably more so than the other.

"I don't believe Hermione, she's such a bitch! She goes off on me, because I don't buy Harry's ravings about Voldemort!" Some girl was shouting.

"Seriously, Lavender, what if he's right? It doesn't matter, but hope for the best and prepare for the worst!" Her friend said.

"Right, Parvati, because I have nothing better to do than claim that You-Know-Who's back, and I would stand a chance against him anyway" Lavender said.

"Well, it's just an expression, sheesh." At this point Parvati reached for the Tea, knocking it onto James' lap. "Oh, shit. Sorry, oh god, sorry, I didn't mean to"

"Oh, effing pain! Evanesco!" James said automatically, and the Tea all disappeared. "The hell you do that for any…. Way?" He just turned around with wand raised and saw Parvati for the first time. "Damn, you're a babe! What year are you in?"

"I'm in fifth" Parvati managed through her and Lavender's giggling. "And you?"

"This is my first year at this school, but I am taking classes with the 5th years. Say, I have no idea where my classes are, could you show me where they are?"

Parvati resumed giggling with a vengeance.

"Yes, I would be honored." How Parvati managed to speak through all that giggling was a feat that James still cannot fathom. "History of magic is first, come on, it's this way."

They had gone through their first trick step when Parvati suggested that they hold hands to ensure no more missteps. By the end of the 'journey' (which was prolonged by Parvati's "shortcuts") they where practically hugging each other.

"Let's sit next to each other in this class! Lavender won't mind this once, anyway, it'll be boring anyway." Parvati said.

About half way through the lecture, Parvati was sharing a seat with James. "Mr. Binns, is it?"

"Yes, ummm…"

"James, and I was wondering if your ever paused to consider what an interesting subject you teach, and why under you it happens to be so boring? You know, History of Magic is quite an exciting field; it is mostly about wars and such. Maybe you should consider a different teaching style every once and a while, I mean to say, now that you don't need to eat or sleep you have about 9 hours more to each day than your colleagues, and you teaching style doesn't reflect that."

"What in all of **hell** is he doing?" Ron asked Harry.

"Beats me, maybe he just doesn't know that Binns doesn't give a rat's ass about teaching styles" Harry replied.

"Well, I agree with your statement for the most part, and to tell you the truth, I haven't thought about this in a while, practically ever. Tell you what, I'll cancel homework and let you out early so I can think about it. Good day class!" Binns then left the classroom.

"Man that teacher's dumb! The next easiest was some sub back home, and even she debated one point at least twice. He was no trouble at all. Let's go make out." James said to Parvati.

"Hell yeah! I know the perfect spot." Parvati said.

Harry and Ron looked at James with much respect. "He just talked Binns into canceling today's homework **and **class!"

Hermione said "yeah, like that's any good during our O.W.L. year."

Lavender watched Parvati leave, and said to Seamus "Since we are on the same side on the Harry issue, let's go somewhere private." And Seamus agreed.

Neville asked "Could he do that to Snape?"

Dean Thomas just stared.

It turned out that Parvati had found out about the room of requirement and that is where James and Parvati went. They were deep into their make out slash fondling session when the alarm clock rang.

"Damn. Maybe we can come back tonight." James said.

"Yes, let's, and then we'll have sex!" Parvati said.

"But I just met you, oh all right, how about eight-ish."

"We've got to get to Potions."

While Snape was bullying Potter (see "Pheonix" pages 232-234) James was brewing a nice draught of peace.

"This was always one of my.. Oh, God, wrong ingredient Parvati, it's **two** drops of hellebore, not three!" James said.

"Thanks, James. Man, I could have been in real trouble there." Parvati gave James a peck.

Snape walked over to James. "Ah. Dumbeldore's new… pet… but can he brew potions?"

"Possibly better than you can" James said.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" Snape said. "and I'll clean that for you, Evanesco!"

"Block."

"Huh? Evanesco!" this time Snape made sure to really swish his wand.

Once again, James merely looked at Snape's wand and said, "Block."

"Look, I really don't want to have to protect my potion with a shield charm, but if you don't stop trying to erase it, I will have to. I'm definitely not going to use a counter-spell."

Snape then collected the potion looking sour. You have a detention with me, and I will contact you in a few days James. Just because you think you are the best in America does not mean we will put up with your arrogance in the United Kingdom."

James returned with "Don't think I care about your opinions, I come to this class to learn potions, not share personality views with the teacher."

James left, and they headed for Divination with Trewlany.

"Aaahh, the new student, James. I am so glad to see you in the real world, but perhaps, perhaps this gift isn't present in you. I am very curious as to why someone so lacking of this gift is taking this class." Trewlany said.

Parvati looked at James as James said, "odd, the last Divination teacher I had said the opposite, and predicted that you would say that."

Harry and Ron laughed silently.

While Trelawny talked about dream interpretation, James looked at Ron. James tried to silently communicate with Ron that they needed to talk after class. Ron understood that and tried to communicate an okay. James understood that. James then turned to Parvati, and attempted to interpret her dream. They continued to do this when Trelawny assigned the homework, which James and Parvati said they would do together.

Then came the fateful class of Defense against the Dark Arts.

"Please can we sit together?" Parvati asked.

"Okay, but we need to sit really close to Harry, because I was asked to watch him in this class, he knows and despises the teacher." James said.

"Well, that's okay, I guess, but I really want to be with you." Parvati said.

"And I really want to be with you, but I do have some work to do." James said.

So, the class began, and nothing happened until Harry blew up onto Umbrage. After Harry left, James began to work on her. "So, Ms. Umbrage, are you afraid of Voldemort coming back"

"No, because he is not going to come back. He-who-must-not-be-named is dead."

"And how did he die?"

"Harry Potter defeated him."

"Okay, but I have another question: if Voldemort is not back, and he cannot ever come back, why do you insist on calling him 'he-who-must-not-be-named' and 'you-know-who' all the time?"

"Force of habit. Now, open your books and continue reading!"

Nothing else happened in that class. Then, the bell rang. James and Parvati strode from the room hand in hand. They were headed for the great hall to eat dinner, when Draco Malfoy walked up.

"Hay, Prat-face, and Jimmy, how's it going?" Malfoy said.

"Shove it Malfoy, or I'll make you eat your words." James said.

Parvati whispered to James "don't pick a fight with them, please, I don't want them to hurt me."

James whispered back "They won't hurt you, but even if they did, I'd make them wish they were never born." Then to Malfoy, "Bring it, weasel face. I hear you make a great ferret."

Malfoy looked puzzeled, but said, "I'll beat you down, Mccwadle, and your little prat to!"

"Dude, I really don't want to do this."

"What? Cry for your mommy?" Malfoy was already halfway down the hall.

"Hey, Malfoy. Ever wonder what the Reductor curse would do to human flesh?" James asked, his temper bettering him, "REDUCTO!"

A bolt of green light lanced from James' wand and hit Malfoy's book bag, destroying it and everything in it.

"Ha, you missed McCwadle."

"Try again, Malfoy, I got your bag."

Malfoy just noticed that his bag had been reduced to dust by a rather well placed and quickly fired stunning spell. Malfoy was suddenly afraid and ran down the hall in the direction he came from. Just for good measure, James blew a couple of chunks right in front of Malfoy's next couple of steps. After he finally tripped on one of the craters, James said "Reparo Maximo" and all the craters where filled.

"Man, that was fun to watch! Malfoy's such a little fucker. Oh, I wish I was Hermione and that I could just hit him," Parvati sighed.

"Let's get to that hall, I'm starved." James said.

They ate a good dinner, because the dinner was of lasagna, wine, garlic bread ("not enough Garlic, this is, like, Garlic Hater's bread" said James), and of course, a Caesar salad. All in all, it was a fantastic dinner, and James thought it was a feast, because true feasts were rare in his neck of the woods.

"Now, perhaps we should get on with our homework…" Parvati said, after the dinner was done.

"Hey, I know enough about the Giant Wars to last a life time. If you need help, just ask me!" James said.

"Hmmm, do you even know more than Hermione?" at this point, they had reached the fat lady, who was snoring at the moment. They decided to take the moment to hold each other and maybe make out, but not quite yet. James thought that Parvati's hand was going dangerously low.

"I don't know, but I'd sure like to find out! Hey, who are you?" James saw some kid from the Slytherin table that had been following them. He felt Parvati's hand shoot up.

"Oh, I'm Robert Mendelino, and I'm a fourth year Slytherin. Who are you?" Said the boy, mistaking James' greeting for a polite one.

"Uhh, usually I'd hex someone for that, but today, well, I feel kind of good. So I'll let you off with a warning. I'm James, and I'm from California. I am taking classes with the fifth year Gryffindors." James liked the look of Robert; he looked like he was a decent wizard.

"Cool, I was hoping it was you. Look, I am really ticked by this sort of inter-house competition. A large number of Slytherins actually realize that Gryffindor and Slytherin were best friends, not worst enemies." Robert said, "and we want to make amends. It's mostly Malfoy and his cronies who hat Gryffindor, and we are afraid of Crabbe and Goyle. Well, who isn't?"

"I'm not, but I don't have to sleep in the same dormitories as them, so I don't count." James said.

"Yeah, well, I don't fear them when I am awake either." Robert said.

"Uh, look, kid, I'm kinda busy at the moment. I'll meet you after Hogsmead, okay?"

"Fine, see ya then!"

So the rest of the week continued, and James continued to have lectures about exams he had already taken. Robert was recruiting a large number of people to go with him to meet James after the Hogsmead trip. But early on Saturday, while Parvati was talking to Lavender James had breakfast with Harmione, Ron and Harry.

"Sorry I beat you, mate. But I could have sworn you were a better Keeper than me." Ron said to James.

"Well, you're right, but I don't really like the Keeper position, I much prefer Chaser to Keeper, and even Beater to Keeper. I really hate the Seeker position, their job is so easy, find a ball, and catch it. Of course, my 20/10 eyesight really helps, as well as the agility of my broom." James said.

"Yeah, I meant to ask you, what broom is that you're flying? It looks really good!" Harry asked.

"It is, it is called a Phoenix. It is part of the American Teir-1 broom list. My color is 'Ruby Blaze.' The Phoenix is about 5 mph slower than the Firebolt, but with much better acceleration and turning. The controls are slightly tighter, making it a poor choice for a keeper. You saw how I had a much-reduced range of vision? That was because I couldn't turn left and right to find the quaffle, because my broom might turn. The broom is really designed for chasers, you know, the ones who need to be agile not fast. Keepers actually seem to prefer the Nimbus 3000 to the Firebolt, and I've even seen a keeper who preferred a Cleansweep to a Nimbus, because he could almost turn all the way around in his seat to find the quaffle." James said.

"Cool! Hey, want to help me train?" Ron asked James.

"No." James said.

"She asked me, and I said yes. Happy?" James said, feeling invaded.

"I guess…" Hermione looked at the paper. "Oh my God! What the hell is this?"

"What?" All three exclaimed.

"Listen to this," Hermione started, "In a, blah blah blah, unprecedented level of control? Teacher inspection? Malfoy quoted? Great." (for the entire scene read "HP Phoenix" Pg. 306-308)

"Okay, this school is about to become a totalitarian government!" Ron said.

"Damn, In the spirit of America, now e have to nuke this school!" Everyone stared at James. "Or at least invade it." But James was thinking about something else. He knew that a Tyrant would emerge, and James knew that he had too much belief in the U.S.A.'s republic ("It isn't a democracy, we vote people to office!" "Okay, it's a representative democracy" "In other words, a republic") to allow a Tyrant in a school. Though he actually believed in anarchy a little more than the republic, he still needed to defend the school from this woman. (Lawyer: Insanity plead, base; Irresistible Compulsion. Judge: Bullshit. Get a usable defense or get the hell out!)

"Can I help?"

"Absolutely. I need everyone I can get."

They walked hand in hand to the room of requirement.

Dear The Trio;

That Umbridge woman I talked about, she's a bitch. She has control of the entire school right now, and she'll soon shut down my life! Man, I miss you guys. Anyway, I'm getting a group together, so send my stuff by hippogriff, to these exact coordinates. You know the drill, five clips per rifle, twenty per SMG, the fifty cal. Guns must have a large amount of ammunition, fighter brooms, bomber brooms, transport brooms, storage refill devices, blank ammo, an inscriber, map of the battlefield, uni's, the contacter, Morse decoder, and of course, a large sack of brownies.

-James

P.S., Remus has this really, really cool friend Sirius Black. You know, the mass murderer? Apparently Sirius didn't kill Pettigrew, and Pettigrew cit his own toe off! Pettigrew is in fact a Death Eater! Who knew?


	3. Chapter 3

Hey, Lauren, did you know that "James" can be spelled "Jaes?" Or it can be spelled "Jes?"

Part Three: Defense and Offense

"Hey, James, what's up?" Robert asked.

"Nothing, just looking for Harry at the moment, I have something for him." James said.

"What is it?" Robert looked immensely curious.

"Well, I have a friend named Laurel who is into making things out of metal. A large part of her creations are magical swords. So, I had her make a couple for me. I brought two of three, and I plan to give one to Harry, because he may need it. Oh well, I guess I could wait for Christmas." James said.

"Well, I don't know where Harry is, but I got the group together, and reducted that caved-in passageway, so now we can meet there tonight. I already let everyone know where we are supposed to be tonight, and I also came across a password charm, care to give it a try?"

"Sure, but we'll need everyone there."

"Alright! Also, there is no sign of the Hippogriff. I'll let you know though…"

"I'll ask Grubbly-Plank if she's seen any hippogriffs. Anyway, see you later, around seven. We have a lot to cover."

"bye."

James then began to go down the stairs when suddenly, out of nowhere, Cho Chang came up to him, crying.

"I really don't know what to do, James, Harry seems to like me, but I feel bad about Cedric. What should I do?" Cho said.

She was kind of annoying to James, because he had much, much more important things on his mind, like his own relationship with Parvati, his anti-umbridge league work, and of course, breathing, beating his heart, walking, singing in the shower, wondering whether or not his DNA read "GCC" or "GCA" in one spot. In fact, he didn't give a rat's ass about Harry and Cho, they just wouldn't work out, he thought.

"Um, you can bet that Cedric would rather you go out with Harry and be happy, than to see you cry and be lonely. I mean, he would be honored, but if he'd rather you cry over him and not go out with Harry, and live your life like an old widow, than he isn't worth crying over. Either way, you should just ask Harry out, because guys are sometimes afraid to ask people out." James also thought, "And it really doesn't matter, because you'll never follow my advice anyway. You whore."

"Thanks" she said rather coolly, "You've been a great help. See you later!"

"Good lord, what does she think I am, a counselor?" James muttered, heading outside.

There was rain earlier that day, but it was no longer raining. It was, actually, more like the lake getting blown onto him. He realized that Professor Grubbly-Plank was more likely to be in the staff room, and, thanking god for that insight, he went back inside and with much trouble, closed the door. He started going to the Teacher's lounge when he heard it. It seemed like nothing, what with the howl, but he could have sworn he heard a hippogriff.

"Osiris?" James looked outside. "Holy shit! Osiris! Just my luck, in this damn rainstorm too!"

James sprinted outside, waved his wand, and said "Aballistio" to make him impervious to the wind. He finally caught up with the Hippogriff and took the materials, and got a waterproof note (trust that Lauren to think of everything) that said only this: "Letter By Owl, Check Common Room At Night." Wonderful, he thought. He waved his wand and used the shrinking spell to put the stuff in the trunk, and bewitched the trunk to be extra light.

"Get the hell to shelter, Osiris, you shouldn't be flying in this weather!" James said to Osiris.

Osiris screeched and licked James on the cheek before taking off. James headed back to the castle to check on the room, as it was 6:30. Hopefully they wouldn't be there just standing around outside the room? He really had a lot to teach these amateurs about guerilla warfare; even his trained team made the mistake of sending a hippogriff without the instructions "wait out storms, risk of cargo loss too great." These kids would be… oh, no, there they were, standing outside the mirror like a bunch of idiots standing around to protest some war.

"Fuck! What the hell are you doing? Get the hell inside before I kill you all!" James was ticked. There wasn't even a password, and he told Robert just to let them in, they looked too damn suspicious when just standing around. He went inside, and saw that many of the tables were already set up.

"Okay, gotta give Robert some credit" he muttered, "even I didn't exactly know what tables I'd need, and he seems to know his conjuration spells."

The room was about 1,000 square feet, expanded by reductor curses and some digging in the more sensitive areas. There were already workstations, and they were clearly labeled. There was "mission control" where there was a large amount of the computer sockets he asked for, there was the "Apparition Center" where a clearly labeled anti-magic field was sitting, with a control panel near by, there was the "Communications Center" where head phones, walky talkies, and a large number of obscure magical bugs were sitting, as well as a viewing monitor (or monitors) of every area bugged yet. There was the "Campaign Table," The largest table in the center, and it had a perfect replica of the Marauder's Map on it, except one thing; it did not show where the people were. That was okay, because there was already some indication of where the first defensive positions would be. They were fairly good positions, too. There was also the "Ammo and Supplies" section, as well as the absolutely necessary spot of "Command Center." Robert had outdone him self.

"Hey, James, there's an ampatheater over here, so you can tell us what's going on!" Shouted Robert.

"All right, headed right over!" James headed over to the Stage, where he was quickly introduced. He started his speech. "Good evening, my fellow freedom fighters. I will first begin by calling out roll: Princeton Armaldo, George Battale, Ginger Batin-Warden, Adrian Hue, Mark Orion, Robert Mendelino," he continued until he had read off every one of the twenty people around him. He then continued, "My dear people, it is my pleasure to welcome you to HQ, of operation Hogwarti Freedom, named after the so famous Operation Iraqi Freedom. The only difference is that a majority is for us taking control, and bringing an old leader back. Not the other way around!

"We might be out numbered, but we do not know who is loyal to the Inquisitor yet. But I challenge this; Anyone who does not have the guts to fight Dolores Umbridge, say so now and leave! By staying here, you will be forced to sign this paper, which is jinxed to prevent you from spreading secrets. You will have the approximate secret keeping ability of a house elf! If I command you to not say something, you do not say it. You have no choice but to not say it. If you try to say it, you will forget everything about us. Is anyone dismayed by this mark of your loyalty?" No one moved.

"The second issue I bring is basic training. I want to give you advice right now; do not congregate en masse; it will blow your cover. I excuse you today, because you are not yet soldiers. But keep in mind that you are soldiers now! You must use the best of your abilities to keep your cover. In fact, unless you are called here you should not be here! We will have ways of gaining news from you, other external devices of gaining contact with you. As far as anyone is concerned, this passage either doesn't exist, or it is caved in. Let's keep it that way. That is an order. You will gain a handbook, read it, memorize it, and live it. You will also be given a squad number, and you will be within that squad forever. You will train with that squad, do hen coup duty with that squad, and go on missions with that squad. We will not change that squad. You may be told that you are part of the command squad. In that case, speak to Robert here; he will instruct you. You may also be assigned to Instruction, in which case speak to Daniel Tanner here as he is our lead instructor. Let's move out!" James stepped down, and turned to Robert and said, "Wow, I didn't expect this many people."

Robert said, "I did. But probably a fifth won't stay."

"That still leaves us with about 16 people. I might have to write home for more weapons. I actually have to help Parvati with some homework. See yap!"

"Bye" Robert said, and he turned and walked to his desk. "A good deal of them are amazingly loyal, but a traitor must exist. Who will it be?"

"Damn, I hope it ain't anyone in California, I would kill myself if anything happened to the Trio."

The day before Hogsmead, Parvati had some bad news. She said that she didn't want to be with James anymore, because the fun had gone out of the relationship. That was okay, because they actually preferred to be friends ("both of us agree?") but they were still very good friends, even to today. James would have asked Lavender out, but she was busy making out with Seamus to notice.

James went back to the common room, thinking that maybe he better ask Padma out, as she was hot too. Then Dean Thomas called him over for an Asiatic Anti-Venom question, the very subject James loathed, and knew very little about. James instead decided to write a letter to his friend Nicole:

Dear Nicole,

Boy is it true that blonds have way, way, way more fun. I wish I were as blond as you! Anyway, how was your first month at Ventura Venefica? My first month at Hogwarts was great! I miss you most of all, even out of Liesel (at least a computer knows how to spell your name!) and Lauren. But, of course, I don't know what I would do without you, I would definitely be bored by Ben and Lauren's romance, after all, I don't give a rat's ass about Ben, but I do like Lauren. (As a friend, you blond!)(lol) Seriously, I can't believe what is happening here, our school is run by a tyrant! Go me! Now I have to fight her (yes, Dolores Umbridge, my favorite!) until she leaves. What a bummer, but at least I'll get to see you around Christmas, (yes, I know you're Jewish, but I can't come home for Hanukkah, only Christmas. Bummer, huh?

Love, (and a lot more where it came from,)

James McCardle

He was about to go up, when he heard a beak at the window.

"Holy, it's Nushome! I've got to let her in! What the hell is she doing out there?" James opened the window and let Nushome in, Nushome hooted, gave James an affectionate peck, and, true to her training, waited for a letter back. "To: James, Concerning: Homeland Security, From: Laurel, blah, blah, blah, evidence of a traitor… what?" A startled Hermione looked at him. James did not like to be startled, and he had whipped out his wand and it was in Hermione's face, especially because this letter was not private, but classified. "What the hell? Didn't I tell you not to sneak up on me?"

"Sorry, James, but we're going to Hogsmead tomorrow, and I was curious if you wanted to listen to Harry?" Her face reminded him of Nicole's, so sweet and pure, with a hint of the beauty that was there, but sort of hidden, thus preventing a vain outlook on life. He could make the comparison's all day, maybe that was why he was attracted to her so much, because he used to like Nicole, and he never got a chance to act on it. Nicole even agreed that Ben was dumb, and she didn't like him either.

"Of course, I wouldn't mind even if it wasn't my job! What, you'd honestly think I'd let him roam about the streets of Hogsmead unsupervised? Jeez, all of Voldemort's death eaters are after him, and you still think he's perfectly safe." James felt bad. It wasn't his place to snap, and since Hermione was like a slightly less attractive (at least, physically) version of Nicole, he felt really bad for a second, and then realized that this was not his great friend whom he had kept from committing suicide just last year, but some random girl.

"Well, I'll see you then, I guess?"

Great, now he felt guilty because all the girl had wanted to do was ask him out. "Absolutely, save a spot next to you for me!" Maybe that would cheer her up?

On the Hogsmead day, he got an important owl that bade him go to the shrieking shack, because he was needed there. He decided to go, and then hook up with Hermione. (For full account of the Hog's Head, see pg 335-347) But, he was held up by a difficulty that he did not see, and inadvertently stopped some Death Eaters from nabbing Harry.

James went up to the Shrieking Shack, which was silent, and noticed something strange: the usual haunted notice was replaced with a keep out sign. He went to investigate. While he investigated, he realized that there were fresh footprints leading towards the shack. He used a tracking spell he learned to discern how old the tracks were.

"Hmmm, 28 hours? Better check this out." James crept toward the shack

About 100 yards (99 Meters) away from the shack he heard some strange noises, like some men talking, but not quite. James crept still closer. At about 25 yards (25 Meters) he discovered that they were speaking matters of great import to him in particular.

"That Potter kid, he's not protected out here is he?"

"Nah, Dumbledore ain't got 'nough seinse ta kip him in schoo."

"I reckon you're right."

"Sheut it, Cowpoke."

"Hold on, I heard something out side." The first Death Eater said. Shit, he'd been heard. So much for his stealth. "Avada Kedavra!" The third bellowed.

There was a light and a green flash, with the rushing sound of death, and it seemed like James would die then and there, but for a strange set of coincidences. First, it was a bunny the curse was aimed at, second, the curse failed because the wizard didn't care too much, and third, he was actually away from any windows.

"Damn, that was too close. These guys are serious!" James began to move again

He finally closed the gap to about zero yards (zero meters) and waited. And waited. Finally, he looked into a hole in the wall, and saw three death eaters and a huge Troll on a chain. He got out his wands, preparing for battle. Suddenly, he leapt into action! Three stunning spells flew, but the Death Eaters weren't pushovers, one had hit James with a Cruciatus curse, and the other two had managed to duck. As James muttered the command-word for the blocking of the Cruciatus curse, (block) the other Death Eaters got into position for a beating. Two killers came James' direction, but he defensively apparated, avoiding them with absurd ease. Then he flicked his wand and Death Eater 3 was entwined by a large amount of rope. Numbers two and one launched even more curses at him, but he successfully parried each and every one. Still angry from his experience of number 3's cruciatus, James began to fight back more powerfully and yet more weakly than ever. He needed to keep his wand in a defensive position, and by now the Anti-Dissapperation jinx had come into affect (rule 1: if an enemy can dissaperate, which is infinitely more effective than your own apparition ability, you're in trouble) so he couldn't just apparate, meaning that he had to beat them the hard way. Suddenly, a quick stunner had gotten through, and now it was a one on one duel. The duel went poorly for James, as he almost got killed five times, and got hit with the Cruciatus once more. He finally finished off the Death Eater with a well-placed Reductor curse that blew the Death Eater's head off.

"Damn." James said, "I really don't want to try that again!"

James then broke their wands and brought them to Dumbledore.

"Fine wandmanship, there, James. I am surprised that someone as young as you could manhandle three high-level Death Eaters. I am awarding 150 points to Gryffindor for this fantastic effort, but taking 100 away because you weren't guarding Harry." Dumbledore looked sullen, could it be because he couldn't talk to Harry?

"Thank you, Professor, I'll be back to Hogsmead in five minutes."

"How would you do that, pray tell?"

"Ask me no questions…"

James then sprinted back to the HQ, where some random people were pulling hen coup duty. Four of them, and all waved to him as he sprinted to the anti-magic field. Once he reached the field, he quickly apparated to a point only five feet away from the Hog's Head. James went inside.

"I think we'd all like to know how Cedric got killed." Some blond kid said, about three minutes after he had entered.

"If you've…" Harry began, but was cut off by James.

"I'll tell you what it's like, this tall man is in front of you with a wand. You don't know where he's going to apparate next, you don't know the spell he'll use, but you know it isn't going to be pretty. He says the words Avada Kedavra, and a rush of green light heads your way. He then laughs because you are dead. No way to block, and I know of only two people under the age of thirty who have avoided death by his hands, and both of them are in this room." James said.

"But how does it look?" Zacharias Smith said.

"I'll show you. Accio Spider!" James summoned a spider, and showed that it was alive. He then whirled his wand and shouted "Avada Kedavra!" and there was a flash of green light and the spider died.

Now even Smith was interested in what Harry had to say. There was a long-winded discussion of what Harry had done, but they never realized that everything Harry had done, James had done in California. In fact, James was beginning to believe that life at Hogwarts was the same expectable norm; Harry gets into some damn adventure and he comes out nearly dead. At least in California they had a couple of adventures a year, not to mention prettier girls (James' mind went directly to Ventura) and nicer, smarter girls too. (This time James thought of his own school, The Magic Academy, and Liesel, Lauren, Laurel, and even Leila.) But, he couldn't really complain, the best of life was right here, with the girl who constantly reminded him of Nicoleﭻ.

When the paper reached around, he even signed. He was about to both ask Hermione out and tell Harry about the room of requirement, when suddenly, he heard crying.

"What's wrong, Lavender?" James asked.

"Dean broke up with me so that he could go out with Padma Patil." Lavender was really sobbing now.

James tried to rush her out of the shop: the bartender was pulling out a wand. "I'm sorry, let's go grab a coffee and we can male-bash."

"You'd, you'd, you'd really do that? For me?"

"I actually do it for just about anyone, but you're good looking. Isn't that great?"

Now Lavender laughed between sobs. Not a giggle, but a true laugh. "Thank you, James."

"Wow, I got a joke off you!"

"Yeah, fairly rare occurrence. Oh, shoot; I spent my last money in the Hog's Head. Well, I'd like to take a walk with you at least." She had even begun to hold his hand.

"No kidding? Let's go in anyway, I have plenty of money." It was true: he had stolen all the money that the Death Eaters had on them, which was a paltry sum of 25 galleons each. He now had an additional 75 galleons, which was plenty to buy a cute girl coffee with.

"Yeah, I'd like a mocha, please?" Lavender ordered first.

"Sure, dear" said the waitress.

"I'll have whatever she has," James pointed to Lavender, who started giggling. Even the waitress got the joke.

"Sure thing, be about ten minutes." The waitress moved away.

"I can't believe you told that random woman that you wanted to have sex with me!" Lavender looked deep into Harry's eyes.

"I didn't, I was asking for a mocha!" James had that smile in his eyes, the one he had whenever he made a joke.

"Sure, and I'm chopped liver!" Lavender said.

"You look like it!" this elicited a large laugh by Lavender, as she playfully tried to punch James.

"Hey!" James said. "That hurt!"

They both laughed then, and James reached across, and said, with all sincerity, "Don't throw ice-cream on my shirt."

Now Lavender started squeeling with mirth, and James was just glad that he had gotten a private room. "Why would I do that?"

"Don't ask me, but one of the prettiest girls on earth attacked me with fingers of ice-cream to my shirt, and my friend Lauren tried to give me an 'Ice-cream Willie,' you know, a Wet Willie with ice-cream instead of slobber." Now lavender fell off her chair. "Well, I'm glad you think it's funny!"

"Sorry, but that is pretty funny, you know!"

"Actually, it was, and that is why I wanted to go out with her again, but I had no luck in that."

"Really? Why?"

"She lives in Ventura, which is about a state away from where I lived. I guess I could have apparated there every day, but I guess I'll have to live with it."

"Ahh, our coffees"

"For you and for you, anything else?" The waitress said.

"Yeah, that cake, the chocolate one?" James asked.

"Sure, be here in about ten minutes!"

Lavender was still sort of laughing, and trying to sip her mocha, when suddenly, James' hand shot across the table with a wand in hand.

"Opps, didn't mean for that to happen, oh crap!" His hand shot back across the table. "Pretend that you didn't see that. Please."

"Okay," Lavender giggled a little.

This time, James' hand shot across the table without a wand, and managed to grab hold of Lavender's, a feat that James often marveled at later. Her hand was so soft and smooth, and she also had small fingers. She looked into his eyes, which had just changed to a fiery red, and saw the passion that burned in him. He looked into her eyes, and realized how beautiful she really was. He then grabbed her other hand, and realized that he had a major crush on her.

ﭻ Not that Nicole and Hermione were similar, it just happened that James looked at someone beautiful and was reminded of people who were even prettier, and apparently wiser.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four: Hell on Earth.

Hey Lauren, E-Mail me your thoughts, okay? Thank you!

The night fell as a mysterious broom rider streaked across the desert sands. His wand was out and he seemed looking for trouble. When he passed Edwards AFB, he looked to the ground, waiting for the signal flare. "Well," he thought, "at least I won't be caught by anyone I know!" There it was: the signal flare. But it seemed to early, almost as if the Order knew what was going on. Almost as if there was a traitor amongst the Death Eaters…

"Ah… Hey Lavender, good to see you this morning. Shall we go to breakfast?" James had another excellent night, his sleeping problems were gone, and he was pretty perky in the morning.

"Oh, no, I want to study for that potion in Potions tomorrow." Lavender looked sad.

"Let's eat up here then!"

"How though?" Lavender didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Like this!" James waved his wand and suddenly a feast appeared.

Lavender and James started eating, and James helped Lavender study with a reward program (i.e., 60 seconds of make out at the end of a chapter for each correct question.) and Lavender ended up with about ten minutes of making out after each chapter, with a possible time of 11 minutes, so James thought she did really well.

"Yo, James, were headed to the Library to do some work, wanna come?" Ron and Harry were about to leave.

"Sure, what about you, Lavender?" James looked at Lavender, as if he needed the excuse.

"Of course!" Lavender got up from her chair, and hopped onto James' back, and said, "Ride 'em, Leopard Girl!"

Harry and Ron laughed as James roared.

"Hey, You! Where did that animal come from?" Filch was peeved.

"Hey, I can bring cats to school!" Lavender shouted back.

Filch thought about this, grabbed a broom and went for James. When Filch took a swing at James, James bit off the end of the broom. Then, James leapt over filch, spun around, batted Filch with his paw (claws retracted, of course) and sent him flying. He did all this with Lavender remaining on top of him.

"That was really scary, James, please don't do that again. Just nod your head." Lavender looked scared indeed. James nodded his head. "I mean, it was pretty fun, but I was scared you were going to drop me, and I would have hit my head on the stone floor, and I was about nine feet in the air, nice jump by the way, and I would have cracked my head open. Well, here we are, you better not go in." Lavender got off of James.

"Why not?" James asked.

"I meant with me on your back."

"Ah."

"Actually, I did need to be here, but I want to talk to Parvati. Alone."

"Okay." James gave her a lick on the face, roared, and tore off down the hall hardly making a sound. He exited onto the grass, and then summoned his Phoenix. "What the hell is that?"

James had seen a reconnaissance broom from Voldemort, and he mounted his broom and flew up to meet the broom. He had gotten half way, when the flier realized what was going on and took off. James sent a stunner, which missed.

"Hmm, not often that I miss, what wand did I use?" James looked at his hand, and saw his rigid 11.5-inch Oak wand. "Damn, I meant to grab my other wand. Shit, where is my other wand? Damnit, need to get back to the Dorms."

James quickly flew into the Owlery, and sprinted down the stairs and into the Gryffindor common room, up the stairs and into the Fifth-Years room, where he tore up the room searching for his other wand. He tried summoning it, and then he used an enlightenment spell, and still he could not find hid wand. He thought back to the library, and realized that he had bumped Malfoy, and felt something brush his rear. He had assumed that it was Lavender, she had done it often enough, but now he realized the hand was bigger. James had hidden his second wand inside another pocket because his shoulder-sheath was missing. He sprinted down stairs to find Malfoy.

"Oy, Dungface!" Malfoy shouted at him. "Looking for your wand, are you? Well, now we should fight. I am armed, you are not!"

Malfoy had just raised his wand when James waved his hand and shouted, "Expeliarmus!" His disarming hex flew straight and true, and it hit Malfoy and Malfoy lost not just his wand, but James' wand as well. "Accio Wands!" James said, waving his hand, and the wands both flew back to him. "Who had the advantage now, Malfoy?"

Malfoy was turning red, and he grabbed Crabbe and Goyle's wands and started a double wand duel, that only one combatant knew how to operate the style, and it wasn't Malfoy. "Fei! Armus!" a jet of red light flew out of both of James' wands, and Malfoy shouted "Stupefy, Tarantallegra!" James laughed as both wands exploded in the hands of the inexperienced wizard, and laughed harder as Malfoy became stunned and lost both Crabbe and Goyle's wands, at which point James said, "Accio Wands!" and "Enneverate!" James now had four wands to Malfoy's zero, and laughed some more. He threw their wands back at them, and turned around to leave.

"Morellun Pairn!" Malfoy shot a silver shot straight at James, who just turned around to see the slicing curse sent his way.

"Aaaghh!" James screamed, as a huge gash appeared on his robes, down the front, and blood began to squirt out. "You Bastard! Cruciana!" A spell that was taught to him by the Silverlode, it mimicked the cruciatus curse with two notable exceptions: one, it would go on for a set period of time and two; it had an entirely different incantation. Both of these combined with the extinction of everyone who was a Silverlode by birth, and how rare it was to actually see a Silverlode, much less be attacked by one, kept the Torture Jinx from being illegal.

"Arrghh!" Malfoy would writhe on the floor for about one minute, while James healed himself with his wand. Malfoy would ask his dad about the curse, assuming it to be dark magic, but it was not.

As James headed down the stairs, Robert met up with him, and he motioned for James to follow him and to stay silent. James found himself weaving about the castle until; finally, they arrived at the Room of Requirement, which was a large closet with soundproof walls. They both stepped inside.

"James, this is important. Umbridge somehow figured out a way to bug the halls! She could be listening in on us at any moment. What are we going to do?" Robert was beginning to become frantic.

"Well, first off, why didn't we go to H.Q.? That is much more secure than this." James was confused. How could Umbridge figure out how to bug the halls, when it took him the better part of his scholastic career and 2 years of working with the remnants of the Silverlode to figure out how to do it? There was no way Robert was right.

"H.Q. was further, and the position we were in was not, facilitating, a motion towards H.Q. Also, we would have to go by at least one of Umbridge's outposts and Filch, who has been warned about congregation of three or more students! Which brings me to the second reason for this meeting: Educational Decree number 24. Educational Decree number 24 disbands Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs. 'An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.' That does include us, you know."

"No kidding, but I have the feeling it isn't aimed at us."

"Really? Why?"

"Notice the number of students that classifies a 'Group,' three. How many people hang out with Harry? Two. So, they are banned from ever meeting. All right, remember when I told you that those three were planning to start a defense club? Well, now they can't, specifically, not the three of them. Any two is okay, but not three. My friend, I think it's time for us to re-think the chain of command."

"How so?"

"How many people are currently enrolled with us?"

"18"

"Okay, so we are officially nine groups of two. Shifts will now be reproduced in that way. There is a 'leader' of each group, and they are all in 'separate' clubs with me. Got it?"

"Uh, Yeah, but shouldn't we be eight groups of two, so as not to include our selves?"

"Hey, good catch!"

"No problem, I'll get right on it."

"Good man." James and Robert stepped out side, heading different directions.

James was walking a full five minutes when suddenly Umbridge appeared. "I need to commission someone to bug the halls, and you are definitely the best person for the job. Here are the spells you are to use, and here are the instructions. Here is my receiver, now go. If you do well, I will pay you 30 galleons." Umbridge handed him two sheets of parchment and a receiver. James knew full well that he could bug the walls for himself and give random sounds to the enemy.

Jams left and decided he'd do it next Saturday. As he was walking back to the Great Hall for dinner, he saw Lavender. He decided to go talk to her, and he walked up to her. She turned to him and smiled, and held out her arm. He took it in his and escorted her to the Great Hall for dinner.

When they sat down, and James tried to regain use of his right arm, Lavender grabbed his hand, and began to eat. Easy for her, he thought, she can use her right hand! James started eating with his left hand, and had Dean Thomas dish out food for him. Dean was fine about it, because he had heard about Lavender's brother, but James had no clue because Lavender was still in shock.

After dinner, James and Lavender were taking a walk, and Lavender was 'guiding,' because she had almost lost her mind, and James, with his quasi-legilimentation powers, understood how close she was to breaking down. He was scared, because a guy should never be the last vestige of hope for a girl since the guy will fail, and the girl will fall. James knew that he would fail, he just did not know when.

"Look, Lavender, what's wrong? You look like you are about to have a break down, and I would like to know if there is anything I could do." James put his arm around her, and she looked up. James pulled out his wand and waved it a little.

"I don't know, well, I do know, but I don't know if I can say without going mad. Well, I could try, in fact, yes. I sh, should definitely tell you. My brother was killed yesterday." Lavender didn't even cry. James smiled inwardly; he just used an ancient charm (of Silverlode origin) that took away some of his courage and gave it to a target.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry. Holy shit, I wish I could have helped. I swear I thought I had found a way to cure your brother, but, holy shit. Come here."

James started crying with Lavender, (AN: Yes, sometimes guys do cry. It is because there is a hurt in their life. If my girlfriend lost her brother, I would cry for her too.) And they wept for an hour, when they finally trudged back to the common room. If only James had been there, he could have stopped it. He wondered what had happened, because it was not common for people to just die. Finally, in the common room, after everyone had gone to bed but them, Lavender opened up a little.

"Apparently some wizards thought that my brother was a threat, and killed him to 'protect' himself. I was so mad, but now I'm just really sad." Lavender started tearing up again.

"What? Didn't they ever hear of the Wolfsbane potion? Or even the wonderful idea of transfiguration? I will personally find out who killed your brother and make him pay!" James was not thinking of Lavender's brother when he started to tear again, but of his faithful dog, Zoe, who was killed that summer. "Actually, something rather like this happened to me about a month before I came to England, in early July? No, no, it was June 13th. Anyway, I had given Lauren her birthday present because she was going out with her boyfriend, and I came home after ice-cream with her and her cousin, and we had had a huge ice-cream fight, or at least, they did, and I got into it when Nicole tried to put the ice-cream that Lauren had put on her onto me. I grabbed her wrist to stop her, and Lauren scooped out her ice-cream onto her finger and tried to put it in my ear. This happened a few times. Then I went home. I got home, and my parents weren't there. So, I decided to take my dog for a walk. As soon as I had gotten home, three death eaters showed up at my house. They quickly disarmed me, and Zoe, being faithful to the end, leapt up to defend me. Their first spells missed, and she got a death eater by the throat. I was now frantically searching for my wand, and when I found it, Zoe had just destroyed the second death eater's arms. Then the third death eater said, said, killed Zoe. I was crushed. I then killed the death eater, and went to Lauren's house, and explained what had happened. I cried there with Lauren and Nicole, and they cried with me. Later, I gave a funeral for Zoe, and I nearly died there. Liesel came and comforted me, and when I raised my wand to commit suicide, Leila took my wands away, and Nicole, Laurel, and Lauren came over to help me through it."

"Really." She sounded mad now. "You would compare your dog to my brother?!"

"Listen, it wasn't the same by far, but it was close! You weren't there. You didn't see the vigor with which my dog fought those death eaters. You didn't see what she did. She took a cruciatus curse for ME! You hear me? She was tortured because of ME! She whimpered and yelped, and she looked at me, and might as well have said, 'James, please, make it stop! Why is this happening to me?' You don't know, you where at Hogwarts when your brother died. Zoe was like a daughter. I loved her more than many could imagine, and to see her tortured like that, it nearly snapped my mind! I killed him, not with a curse that produces a killing effect, but with the cruciatus curse. And I wanted to do it again. The only reason that I am here today is because others showed me their love, and you sit here, telling me about how my loss is not as significant as yours. Well, news flash, Zoe had feelings like your brother. My dog did everything your brother did: play, love, have fun, feel pain, communicate, think, even crap on the floor! They even ate about the same things! But Zoe did one more thing. She died for me, and knew it. She was tortured for me, and she knew she was doing it for me. And she looked at me as if to tell me that she loved me with all of her heart. And I knew that that is what she meant."

Lavender looked at him, all anger subsided. "I'm really sorry, but my loss clouded my judgment. Oh, god, I was heartless…"

"No, you acted just like I did. You had a heart, and so you were convinced that no one ever felt pain like yours, and I had just proven you wrong. You don't understand, not even now. Leila and Amanda had to work together to pry the wand out of my hands, and Liesel had both hands on my mouth to prevent me from saying 'Avada Kedavra' and ending my life. But you were hurt too, and all I can say is this cliché, 'that which does not kill you will make you stronger. All I wanted to say was that not only do I understand, but I love you, too." James moved his face closer to hers.

"And I know you understand, and I love you, too." Lavender's hand began to drop.

The fire was going out, it only emitted a faint glow, and James' eyes strained to see Lavender. His eyes also screamed to be closed, and as their heads bumped, James' eyes closed, and James and Lavender started kissing.

The next morning James found himself awake in an armchair in the common room, next to Lavender. His last memory had been of holding her body when she was asleep, and now he was suddenly next to her in the morning. He guessed that he had just fallen asleep, and had woken up. That occurred often with humans, about once a night. He jostled her awake, and she woke up, looked around, saw James, and kissed him. He was on top of the world, even though she had already kissed him before. He felt a strong connection between the two, and he realized how much he liked her.

"Ohh, I thought I was going to die last night, the pain of it all. I love you, James, I really do. Thank you for last night, it really helped." Lavender got up, and went to the Dorms for changing.

It was still dark, and John thought he had caught the death eater, but it turned out that the death eater had figured it out. John felt sheepish, and signaled everyone to mount their brooms, and so they did. John felt bad that he had let that scum into his state without making him pay. He did not know that the Death Eater was already inside the state before he came…

"DAMN!" Harry had woken up and read the decree. "That vile, foul, evil, I swear."

"Ah, don't swear, just ask Jamesey to do it. What do you want?" James asked Harry.

"Just for that evil hag to leave us alone!"

"See? That wasn't so hard, now was it? Oh, and I might warn you that the fires are not necessarily as safe as you think they are…" James walked off, enjoying Harry's scared look.

James needed to scare Harry and fast, because he was about to get himself expelled and Sirius caught. James had not read the letter, but the bugs he had installed for Umbridge (he had his cronies do it for him) actually went through H.Q. first, so they could control what Umbridge heard. Well, Umbridge's office was now bugged, and it was 'unknown' by James. They had overheard her talking about what Harry's letter might mean. Then she asked her friend in the floo network what she could do about it. Her friend had told her exactly how to patrol fires. James did feel kind of bad for what he had done to Harry, but not too bad. He was not invited to the meeting tonight, but would probably show up anyway, invisible, because he needed the practice of the invisibility spell, and because it would be fun to watch. All he had to do was ask Lavender to be his 'Trojan Horse,' and she agreed.

"I don't understand it, why won't my charm work?" Lavender was much better and had almost gotten over her brother, thanks to James' "Psychology and Counseling Made EZ," and now she could perform most major spells.

"Dude, what are you doing? You don't swish the wand, the wand is an aiming tool, movement isn't the spell; your mind is the spell. You need to focus, and try holding your wand like this." James held his wand like a dart. "And motion is not unnecessary, but it is not needed in extreme. Try it like this, Silencio!" James had been aiming at Seamus, who waved his wand, and tried to speak but couldn't. "Finite Incantatem." Seamus looked startled, and Lavender was laughing silently.

"Okay, my turn, but I'm gonna try the frog first." She held her wand, and said, "Silencio!" The frog suddenly stopped croaking.

"Very good, now try using the universal anti-jinx. You wave your wand like this, and say, 'finite Incantatem.' Then, the target spell is dissipated. Go for it."

She repeated his instructions, and her frog croaked very loudly. "I did it!!"

"So you did. Whoops, there's the bell!" They all filed out of class.

A few days later, James had finally mastered the invisibility spell, and was working on his quick-speed animagus change, when Lavender saw him, and motioned him to follow her. They were heading to the room of requirement.

"Umm, where are we going?" James asked.

"Sh! Turn yourself invisible, we're headed to the Room of Requirement for the meeting!" Lavender said.

"Oh, okay." James pulled his wand out. "Gaseous Visulous!" He was turned to the opacity level of the atmosphere around him, rendering him and his clothes totally invisible for the next two hours. He wondered if he could make a hat register that a head was in it, and then have the hat activate the spell. He knew how to store the spell, so he figured he could do it. James walked in.

The room was not the same as it was last time, but it was now a room committed against the dark arts, and he figured he could grow to like the room. He had a look at the book shelf, and instantly fell in love with "Jinxing: Defensive and Offensive purposes. He Quickly grabbed the book while no one was looking, and hid it on his body. He was not surprised that the book was now invisible.

He began to watch the different people use the spell, and winced as they failed at using the simplest of hexes. He watched Luna Lovegood once, and cringed when she failed to do anything but stand her partner's hair on end. He did not watch her again, too disgusted by her awful spell work. He then watched Michael Corner fail, almost intentionally, to disarm Ginny, who he saw, to his immediate pleasure, hammered him with a great disarming hex. The twins were doing rather well as well, they could easily have been the best there, they had nailed Smith every time. Then he saw Cho Chang get her opponent, and was fairly amazed by her. He then turned and saw Lavender, to his delight, mastering the spell and using the technique that he had taught her. 'She would make an excellent sniper.' He thought, because she was indeed accurate and powerful, with a good idea of how to use her wand. But she had no chance against Parvati, because Parvati was a pro, trained by Daniel himself, and she knew exactly how to get out of the way of the hex (though she was often unsuccessful, Lavender was an excellent shot) and how to fire it quickly, accurately, and powerfully. He was proud of them both, and excited that Parvati was getting even more practice, cause it doesn't hurt!

He then watched Harry, and realized that with some **real** instruction, Harry might be good at both teaching and fighting. He seemed just a little too lucky, and James figured something bad was going to happen to him, eventually. James then watched one wand wave from Ernie, and was revolted to see him flourish it, display it, pose with it, and then fail to get the hex off. Then Harry told everyone to stop, and he started to go around the room again, and headed to where Cho Chang was practicing, and James lost all respect for Cho when she set Marietta's sleeve on fire, and was pleased to see Marietta douse it with water from her wand. All in all, there was a lot more bad than good, and James was glad he didn't join immediately, and decided to go to future meetings, and teach and recruit.

At the end of the session, James muttered, "Finite Incantatem" out side and walked with Lavender, and they talked about the lesson.

"Wow, James, that method of wand holding worked really well! I wish I had learned that earlier. Parvati tried to doge, but it was no use most of the time. She still managed to avoid a few." Lavender looked at James, expecting some tips on how to reduce misses next time.

"Well, you got her 80 of the time, and that is impressive since I trained her to dodge the spells that you where throwing at her. She is one of the best spell dodgers that I have ever met, and you shut her down very well. Remember, it's okay to miss her 20 of the time, because it is typically only one spell that you need to land!" James was actually very impressed with Parvati, because 20 was much more than he had expected, and it definitely was not the fault of Lavender, Parvati just looked well.

Lavender looked taken aback, and was pleased to hear him say all this. "I love you! Let's see you use the Disarming hex!"

James looked at her and said, "Armus!" and her wand went flying, and James retrieved it with a summoning spell.

Lavender looked at him. "Wow! How did you do that?"

James looked uncomfortable, "I might tell you later, but it is a very closely guarded secret.

They arrived back at the tower, and had a very passionate kiss good night. James lay awake in his bed, wondering about how he would tell Robert about the Silverlode, and even whether or not he should tell him, though that thought quickly passed. The next day, he woke up early and sought out Robert.

"Robert! HQ, now!" James sent over the communication devise that they all had.

Robert showed up five minutes later. "Yes?"

James looked at him, and said, "You asked me a couple of days back how I cast that disarming hex so well, and now I am going to tell you. You cannot ever repeat this, and as far as you are concerned, you never heard this. There was a group called the Silverlode. The Silverlode was a group totally committed against a strange power that had surfaced on earth, about twenty-five years ago. They were people who had incredible magical prowess. They made a vow to never kill anyone, ever. They had invented many spells that are now common today, the stunning spell, impediment jinx, and even the imperious curse. They were hardly well known, in fact, they thrived on the secrecy.

"Well, all of the birth-right Silverlode are dead, because they died out. I met the last one immediately prior to my third year, and he taught me much. He died a year later of cancer. I have knowledge of spells that were not even heard of by Voldemort, because the people who had invented them were unheard of by the public. The Silverlode also experimented with other magical energies. They were heavily curious about spells, why and how could we cast them? Their experiments and research led them to believe that Magic was a rare gift, a gift that was born into you. Not from genetics, but just born into you. It happened that a person with Magic capabilities had a higher chance of having a child with the same capabilities. They also determined what is called spell theory.

"They theorized that spells were not made from the wand, or anything overtly physical, but they were just ways that the people who had the power could manipulate various energies. These energies required major focus, and that is why incantations were produced; an incantation helped to keep your mind on the spell. Because they assumed that the energies were boundless, they discovered that they could cast any spell without a wand, or without incantation. They discovered that wands were a means of amplification of this manipulation, and so they discovered that sometimes amplification was not necessary. They also theorized that it would not be possible for a wand to spell itself because it amplified a spell, and not create the source for a spell, as was commonly believed.

"Going off of this, the wondered why a spell was shot out of the wand, and how to make the wand do what they wanted it to do. Now they had invented wand theory, which they did share. They discovered that a wand was a point through which the final spell was determined. For instance, if a spell was to be fast and inaccurate, the wand should be quite whippy. If the spell was to be powerful but difficult to cast, the wand should be long. If the opposite effects were desired, a slower-moving but more accurate spell that was both much easier to cast and less powerful, a short, rigid wand would do the trick. They fine-tuned this theory and it stands today as a law.

"After they had decided what wands were for, they discovered (through accident) that a spell without a wand was impossible to cast without waving the hand at the target. It turned out that a spell needed a target before it could be cast. After that, they theorized that an end result could be modified by focusing the mind on the end result, as long as the spell and result were close enough to each other. Remember how I showed you the multi-target stunning spell? It was designed by me to have an improved affect on the old stunner, but the two were almost the same, so the incantation could be similar. I decided on Multus Fius because it was a multiple stunner. I also had improved control over my other spells too. Cool, huh?"

Robert looked at him and said, "Yeah, I never knew that magic was not dependent on a wad."

James said, "Actually, that is kind of stretching the truth. It is not necessary to have a wand, but it is much better to have one and use it if you can. Let's go get breakfast."

Robert said, "Thank you, James. That was very enlightening, and it all made sense."

James smiled, punched him on the arm, and said, "Shut up. Let's go eat."

But back in California, something terrible was happening.

"Holy shit! Kill him!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Lauren, look out!"

"Stupefy!"

"Impedimenta!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Fei, Fei!"

The fight was going poorly. The flashes of light were everywhere. Suddenly, there was silence. As the good guys counted their casualties, they noticed one thing: both Ben and Lauren were not there…


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Wow this story is fun to write!

Chapter 5: Hell Frozen

"Crucio" That high pitched voice. She'd know it anywhere, even if it wasn't aimed at her, she would still feel the pain of the spell. "I will ask you again. Where is it headquartered?"

"I don't know." Lauren was telling the truth, but Voldemort seemed to enjoy torturing her anyway.

"Liar. You would die, but for a request made by one of my loyal servants…" Lauren wondered who had made that request. "Crucio!"

More pain. "Where is James going to go next?"

"I would assume that he would stay in Hogwarts, but I don't know." Lauren could already feel the curse hitting her.

"Crucio!" Voldemort laughed, and decided to bide his time with this one…

Back at Hogwarts, James had just decided to send a letter to Lauren, letting her know that he would be heading home for the winter holidays. He wanted to come home for Christmas, even though Lauren was Jewish, so that he could at least see her and his other friends before heading off to Hogwarts for another long term. In fact, he had nothing to do at Hogwarts, because not even Harry had shown himself stupid enough to put himself into real danger. Oh well…

"Hey, James! What's up?" Lavender had just come up behind him.

"Nothing at all, just sending a letter to my friends back home about the holidays. I'll be so glad to get back, I miss every single one of them, Lauren, Leila, Laurel, Ariel, I even sort of miss Ben."

"I noticed that most of the people in that list were girls." Lavender had crossed her arms, and she looked angry.

"Yeah, because only they decided to follow my teaching, and now they, like you, are the best witches in school."

"Okay, but at least there'll be another boy there."

"Yeah, Lauren's boyfriend." James smiled. "I will defiantly mention you, and show your picture to everyone. I love you, you know."

"Yes, I suppose you do, and I love you too. Write me every day."

"I know that I will have letters for you every day, but cross country is tough in America, and no owl is going to manage Sacramento to London and back in one day."

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"That's okay." James looked up, and saw Artemis, Lauren's owl, headed right for him. "What the hell?"

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just that that is Lauren's owl, and usually she doesn't send him long distances, because she loves him."

"Well, let's read the letter."

"Okay, here goes,

James: Bad news. I'll tell you by fire tonight at midnight. Be in the common room then.

Laurel.

"Well, that is very strange. You should be there, you know, just so it isn't too inappropriate. Though it is very rare that I meet anyone at midnight…"

"Woah! We have Charms! We need to go!"

James had a very productive day, first schooling everyone at banishing charms practice, and then at appendage growing practice. Then, in DADA, James read the book, and then, in his study break, he read his Animagus book, and learned some more HILL (Horrifically Impossible Learning Levels) Defensive Theory, and read some more of his Silverlode book on spell theory. He loved learning these things, because they made him more of an opponent, and he was sad that there was no one to fight at Hogwarts, because they were all very bad at the spells he knew. Soon, it was time for his DA meeting, and he rushed to the room of requirement to be there on time.

"Today, we are going to continue our on the Disarming hex, and then work on the Reductor curse." Harry said, and James paired with Parvati.

"Expelliarmus!" Was heard throughout the room, except from James and Parvati. They were about to duel to the stun, a rough and tough, but fairly legal version of the wizard's duel. Each side was waiting for the other to move.

"Expelliarmus!" Parvati finally moved, and James ducked, and shouted, "Armus!" in reply. Parvati dodged the spell quite easily, as it was her talent to do so. "Stupefy!" Was Parvati's next spell, and James shouted "Protego" in reply. The stunning spell hurled back at Parvati so fast that she could not get out of the way. When the stunning spell hit her, she flew backwards about two feet, and Harry blew the whistle as hard as he could.

"What the hell is going on over there?" Harry was mad that James and Partvati were not following his instructions.

"Ennevarate." James paused to wake Parvati up, as she should be awake too. I wouldn't be fair for him to take all the blame. "Parvati and I dueled to the stun. I beat her easily, because she is sort of my student, but it was still pretty tough."

"Well, it is time now for the reductor curse, the incantation is 'Reducto,' and it is designed to destroy solid objects in your path." Harry said, and then he imitated the wand motion.

"Hey, Parvati, do this. Hold your wand with your fist, put your hand back here, and imagine your target blowing up." James whispered to Parvati.

"Sure." Parvati whispered back.

"Do you want to try, Parvati?" Harry was trying to catch her off guard.

"No problem." She said, "REDUCTO!" And the table carrying the dark detectors was blown to dust, and James laughed.

"Wow," was the collective murmur around the room.

"Reparo!" James waved his wand, and then he continued his laughing.

The rest of the meeting went about as well. Suddenly Parvati was Harry's favorite witch in the room, at least for power. Not even Hermione was as good as Parvati, and only James was able to make a reductor curse duplicate her spell's effect. The reason that James was able to duplicate Parvati was, well, James taught Parvati, and James knew what he was doing. After the meeting, James walked in human form with Lavender and Parvati.

"Good job, Parvati. I never knew that you knew how to cast the reductor curse." Lavender smiled at James, as she knew that he had coached her really quickly.

"Well, James told me how to do it…" Parvati shrugged.

"I know, and I didn't know he knew how to teach." She abandoned his hand to put her arm around James.

"Oh, please, if you're going to do that, why don't I just carry you?" James asked her sarcastically.

"Sure!" And Lavender then hopped into James' arms, and James carried her the rest of the way to the common room.

"Well, I am at least glad that Harry likes me a little more, not that he's cute or anything, but he seemed a little unhappy about my performance at the last meeting. So, at least he is impressed now." Parvati sighed.

As they headed up to the common room, James looked over his shoulder to see a Slytherin mob following him. So they quickened their pace, but so did Malfoy (they could see him clearly now) and his gang of about ten people. James signaled Parvati to take Lavender down the left hall after they passed the common room, and James would try to find Melendino. Parvati and Lavender would run up to HQ, and James and Robert would turn around and engage. Hen duty would gather a group to hit the Slytherins from behind, and Parvati and Lavender would close in from behind with some smg spell shooters.

"BREAK!" James tore down the right side, diving into a passageway behind an atlas, while Lavender and Parvati tore down the left, sprinting. James turned quickly into a leopard, and he was instantly faster. He was running with spells flying behind him, when he turned the corner and ran into Robert. He turned back into a human.

"Robert! Get your wand out, we need to fight." James was frantic.

"Dude, they're after me. I know. We need to run." Robert was fairly calm.

"Robert, I have a team coming from behind, we'll be okay."

"The team will never make it in time!"

"Have faith." James turned around, "FEI!" The stunner hit Pansy, who dropped to the floor.

"IMPEDIMENTA!" Malfoy shouted, but Robert knew his shield charm.

"Protego." Robert waved his wand, almost lazily, causing the spell to bounce off the shield at an odd angel.

"Stupefy!" Another Slytherin down, only eight to go.

"Stu-" all of the sudden, a large number of bright red flashes spewed from the end of the hall, from the weapons that Lavender and Parvati had, the spell storage devices. They were shooting prepared stunner spells, so the Slytherins were shot down like a bunch of soldiers during world war two.

"Wow. How do those work?" Robert was amazed.

"I'll tell you later, now I have to get back to the common room for a meeting."

"Wow, I thought we were toast!"

"Never fear, but head to the room of requirement. Here's where it is…" James gave him a sheet of paper with detailed instructions. "See you tomorrow!"

So James and Lavender went to the common room, Parvati escorted Robert to the room of requirement, and was going to take the stuff back to HQ before going back to the common room. James and Lavender were up until Parvati came back, and then Parvati and Lavender went up to bed after James and Lavender kissed goodnight (in that fifteen minute way). It was now 11:55, and only five minutes until… there she was!

"James, come here, quickly! I have some really, really bad news." Laurel was so scared.

"What's up?" James was non-plussed

"Ben's missing!"

"Oh. So what's this bad news?"

"Lauren is missing as well! We think that they were captured!"

"Crap. I'm coming up!" James headed for the fire.

"NO! We have a plan, and it requires you to stay in England! Bear with us, if we screw up, we'll get you."

"Couldn't you have written that in a letter?"

"If it was intercepted, nothing was going to happen. There was to great a risk of interception, and we had to do a pony express to get you the letter."

"But, why was Artemis on the end of the line?"

"Because we flooed him up to England so he could carry it in. I trust him more than any other owl, except yours, who is, by the way, a genius!"

"So, Remus flooed him back?"

"Yup"

"You better floo in here tomorrow, and every day until either I warn you not to, or you get Lauren."

"We're after Lauren tonight. Keep in mind; it is only seven o'clock here in California. I'll let you know tomorrow."

"See you. But I really should go down…"

"John Merina is going to take command of the mission. Don't worry."

"I miss you guys."

James then went to bed.

It was dark, and the moon was new. This was the perfect time for an attack, and John was excited about his new mission. He grew up on a Native American reservation, and so he knew all about stealth. He had everyone wear black cloaks, and black clothes to boot. The shoes were thin, and everyone had about twelve hours training in the shoes, so they didn't sound like much, and they sounded more like a bunny than anything else. They had drawn their wands and were headed across the still-hot sands, even though the sun had set a hour and a half ago at 8:30 it was still about 105 degrees out, and they were sweating. Sweating but silent was better than comfortable and loud, Leila said, so everyone had shut up and stopped whining. James would be proud, she thought.

As they neared the complex, they heard some fresh screams that sounded like Lauren being tortured by Voldemort. They closed the distance, and heard the high laugh of Voldemort, and some more screams from Lauren. Suddenly, the group saw a patrol of four death eaters in a jeep.

"Quick, behind here. I'll take care of them." Specialist Maury Dotson signaled behind some fuel tanks.

"Why does Voldemort even have patrols out here in the desert?" Someone in the jeep said. Maury was closing the gap.

"It isn't for us to question him." Said someone else. Maury was now in position to get on the jeep.

"I know, but still, this seems like a waste of time." The first one said again. Maury used a silent spell to incapacitate one of the people in the jeep, and took his place.

"I'll say." Maury said. The effect was instantaneous. All of the three remaining death eaters turned so fast in their seats; you could hear their necks snap. "Fei Fei Fei" All three was stunned.

"Nice work! Damn, you're good." Laurel was really impressed.

They continued around the base, disabling the alarms, and apparently this base was once a muggle facility. It seemed as if it was once a facility for nuclear development, but that would have made no sense. Except that a good deal of non-magical security systems were in place, and Voldemort had added his own systems. Now it was almost as impregnable as the HQ for the Order of the Phoenix. However, the Merina group was very, very, very good at what they did. They continued down the lane, and headed into the alley outside the reactor center. They saw the ventilation duct, and decided to head in. They split into two groups, the frontal assault group of six, and the infiltration group of four.

"Get your, cough, get, get your kickes now, Vole, Voldu, Voldemort!" It was obvious that Lauren was about to crack; she had almost lost the power of speech. "I will be rescued!" She just gained an amount of strength.

There was a high, cold, laugh. "CRUCIO!"

The infiltration group was about ten feet from the exit duct, and they waited there until the assault group started the distraction. The assault group moved into position and waited about thirty seconds before they attacked.

"Stupefy!" The light lanced forward through the hall, and it pushed open the double doors, and it hit a death eater on the other side.

"Attack! Attack! There is an Attack!" The death eater alarm was up.

"Huh?" Voldemort took his wand away from Lauren for a moment, and turned to the direction of the attack. He disapparated.

"NOW!" Laurel, Leila, Maury, and George Battle dropped down from the ventilation shaft and tore for Lauren, who was on the ground and shaking. "Hey, Lauren, can you cast a spell?"

"Nnununuhhh" Lauren had lost her power of speech.

"I'll take that as a no. Let's get out…" George began.

"Not so fast." A high voice interrupted. "I can't let you take my hostage, I need her for questioning."

"STUPEFY!" Ben shouted from behind, and the spell just barely got him. Voldemort dropped, and everyone hopped out.

"LAUREN!!!" Ben was crying. "I can't believe that she was tortured like that!"

"Ben? Where the hell did you come from?" Leila was confused, and Laurel was mad. He could have let them know that he was okay.

"Voldemort got me too, but he was bent on interrogating Lauren and not me, so I managed to escape. I stunned him, and, well, here I am. Something wrong with my saving your Asses?" Ben was a little too chipper.

"No, but we really need to let James know what happened." Leila always was the organized and level headed one.

"Why would we need to do that?" Ben was not happy.

"Yeah, I told him that you and Lauren were missing." Laurel said.

"What?!? Why the hell did you tell him that? He doesn't need to know everything that happens here in California!" Ben was acting very strange, even for Ben.

"Um, yes he does. He's the reason that Lauren didn't kill you in your second, third, and the beginning of your fourth year. He's also the reason that Lauren is still alive, because he stopped Jarina from killing her in the fourth year, and he cured her of being a werewolf, you should be happy that James has stuck his neck out for both you and your girl over the past three years, and she stuck her neck out for him with the Liesel incident in the third year, and when James had his first girlfriend in his fourth year. They have been there for each other since the beginning. You only go out with her, he is her friend, and he would give his life for her." Laurel shouted.

Leila took over, "And the rest of us can stand him, and we trust him with our lives. He is the best wizard that goes to our school, and we needed him. He taught us all we know, and he even taught you indirectly through Lauren. You have learned lots from him, even if you are too narrow minded to see that. I know you are in love with Lauren, and she loves you too, but James is just a friend, and you don't seem to be able to understand that. You don't seem to be able to understand that she likes him a lot, but that neither cares about what their friendship has to do with your relationship. If Laurel didn't tell James, I would have, and if I hadn't Lauren would kill us. We'll ask her when she is better." She turned to Laurel. "She got an owl from him, by the way. He's coming back for Christmas, and he asked us to get ready for him. Isn't that great? James is finally coming back!"

"Yes, it is. But I wish he could be here now, Lauren will want to speak with him, and he will definitely need to talk to Lauren. I just don't see how Ben can't understand how necessary the relationship James and Lauren have, because it is very obvious to the rest of us." Laurel was sort of happy that James was coming back, but James had a girlfriend, and she had wanted to meet this girl. Oh well, there was always the summer, right?

James woke up that morning with a felling of dread that was at least matched by the clouds. How could Lauren have possibly allowed herself to get captured? Hadn't she known about the enemies behind her? If not, then who hit her? It didn't make sense, she was supposed to be his best student, but she acted like… why was he blaming her? It wasn't her fault; it was John's. John was supposed to not ever have any casualties, and his first two were James' best friend and her boyfriend. Why was he blaming John? It was his fault, not John's; James should have been there to fight for Lauren. But now he was delusional. It was no one's fault; she just got unlucky. Well, at least he had classes to take his mind off of things.

"James? Are you okay?" Lavender was scared. James had never zoned out for the first two periods, he usually paid a large amount of attention during class, but today he was almost sleeping with his eyes open and an expression of extreme worry on his face.

"Fine. It's just… never mind." James still stared into space.

"What happened last night?" Lavender seemed to trust him.

"Lauren's missing, she was taken to Voldemort. Laurel went to try to bust her out. I fear the worst: they could all be dead."

Lavender was expecting something else, like a cat died, or he might have to come home, or like he found out that every girl at home liked him and he was afraid to break the news. "Oh, I am soo sorry that I asked you. It must be horrible!"

"I'm okay, but Lauren isn't. That is the problem."

"James? Dumbledore wants to see you." Professor McCgonnagl said, handing him a note.

"Fine. See you at dinner, Lavender!" James walked out of the classroom.

In five minutes he was there at Dumbledore's office, and he went in. "James. I have to let you know that you will have to go home for the winter holidays. Voldemort appears to have a base in the Mojave desert, and you need to protect the people of northern California while we find someone to keep tabs on the base." Dumbledore was sort of going nuts over this, it wasn't that big of a deal.

"I was headed back home anyway. It seemed like a good idea anyway, Harry would be here, right? The Dursley's won't take him back, so where would he go?" James asked.

"To the Burrow. I think Ron might ask him to come home for the holidays. Or at least Grimauld place, Sirius would want Harry back. But you're right, neither place really needs the extra security. Well, go down to dinner, you missed enough of Transfiguration, not that you need it." The twinkle in his eye told James that he knew of James' leopard form, so James turned into a leopard for him. "Very nice, that is about the best transfiguration I have ever seen! The coat is beautiful, and the size is massive. You could probably carry a light human with that transformation."

"Lavender Brown. I could almost carry Fred Weasly, but I was new at this, so I couldn't. I do carry Lavender around just about every were though, she is my girlfriend." James had turned back to a human.

James left the room, and headed down to the Great Hall in leopard form, because he was bored. He went down before coming across Mrs. Norris, the cat. He gave the biggest roar, and you could see the cat pee as it sprinted away as hast as possible. James laughed on the inside as he went away. Upon entering the Great Hall, he encountered a large number of stares, as he was still a leopard. Someone was sitting next to Lavender, and it wasn't one of Lavender's friends. He sneaked up behind the kid, and roared as loud as he could. The kid jumped up, pulled out his wand, dropped it in shock of seeing a leopard, and started begging James not to kill him.

"Get the hell away from my girlfriend so I can sit with her." James popped back to human form.

"Sorry, I didn't know, this was just an open seat." The kid stammered out.

"I know you didn't know, I was just having fun. But now you do know, so don't try to feign innocence again, next time I will attack you for lying." James was smiling, as was Lavender.

"Yeah, sorry, oh, man, sorry. I'll eat over here." The kid walked off.

"Thank you, James. That guy was hitting on me, and I couldn't convince him that I had a boyfriend. Then you appear, and bam, suddenly I am attached, and it isn't to him!" Lavender laughed at this, as did everyone else that heard.

"Hey, let's go to the lake on Saturday, because I have never been." James said.

"I'd love to!" Lavender looked at Parvati and giggled.

Then they all finished their dinner, and went to the common room to work on homework. As usual, James finished his homework in front of everyone else, and started on his HILL magic theory homework, which was much harder than anything taught at Hogwarts. James was still working on the third paragraph of his paper when midnight struck and the fire turned green, James put his pen down.

"James! Excellent news! We got her! She's okay!" Laurel and Leila spilled into the room, and both attacked him. "Isn't it wonderful? She is not dead! Do you have anything to drink?"

"Yes, if you'd get off of me. My girlfriend is here!" James tried to shake them off.

"So, that is your girlfriend! She's pretty good looking, possibly more than Liesel!" Laurel said.

"I think so, that's why I asked her out, sort of. Actually, I took care of her after an incident, and we hit off!" James smiled. "Anyway, what's your pleasure?"

"Just butterbeer, don't want anything stronger today, thank you!" Laurel smiled, and Leila looked at her and laughed.

"One, two, four butterbeers coming right up!" James waved his wand, and eight butterbeer bottles appeared. "Sorry, that's eight!"

Everyone grabbed a bottle, and Lavender obviously thought them cracked. How would they open them? "Open" all three said, tapping the bottle. Oh, she thought, that's easy.

"So, the raid went well?" James asked.

"Very much so! In fact, we got in and out with no casualties, and we even found Ben, who stunned Voldemort for us!" Laurel was hyper with joy.

"We didn't even know where he came from! I thought that he was captured himself, but apparently he escaped when the death eaters weren't looking. Isn't that great?" Leila was displaying how she was the levelheaded one once more.

"Yeah, I never knew that Ben was that great of a wizard, but I guess I underestimated him. Here, let me write a letter to him, thanking him for what he did." James conjured a quill, ink, and paper. He wrote a quick note and sealed it up with his seal. He then gave them the note. "No peeking, this is confidential. So, how is Lauren after all of this?"

"Not so great, she is sort of lost. She feels totally betrayed and lost, and she has no idea how it happened." Leila looked sad.

"DAMN! I can't be there until Christmans, so send me frequent owls, and come…" The fire had turned green again. "Okay, this way. All of you. Now." James led them behind the couches, and Lavender went into the girl's dormitory, while Leila went into the boy's dormitory. Suddenly, someone came through the flame.

"SIRIUS BLACK! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE!" said a man with short gray hair. "You, boy, were did Sirius go?"

"Who in all of hell are you, jackass?" James stood eye to eye with the man, and he had a feeling that he was the better wizard.

"Watch your tone, boy. I am looking for Sirius." The man now had his wand out.

"Watch your wand, it could go off any moment!" Lavender took the hint.

"reducto" Lavender whispered, and a dim light flew out of her wand. The spell hit Dwalish's wand, which blew to bits.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" James said.

"Get him, Kingsley!" Dwalish shouted at Kingsley.

"Why? He didn't cast a spell; your wand appeared to have blown up by it self. If you attack that boy I will have to report you." Kingsley said in his calm, deep voice.

"Like he said, only worse. I am a much better wizard than you are, and I will not be content to cast shield spells in defense. I will use offensive spells that I know." James pulled his wand level to his eyes to bring the point home.

Dwalish turned to Kingsley and said, "Would Dolores actually send us up here without proof?" James made a signal. "Sirius must be here." At this point, Lavender, Leila, and Laurel showed their heads and wands, and Dwalish looked at them.

"You see? Not only are you out wanded, but you are also out numbered, by three, four if Kingsley joins us, as he will if you attack us. Go home. There is no Black here, only some students that are not going to try to hide Sirius Black. Go away, and we will let you leave. Stay, and we will destroy you and your friend, and send you back anyway. Besides, you don't even have a wand!" James watched as Kingsley whipped out some floo powder, and poured it on the flames. Kingsley went through, and Dwalish did as well.

"All right, you two, you need to get the hell out of here. I'll see you at Christmas." James told them, and gave them hugs.

"By, James, Lavender, you know, you're really lucky to go out with James, there are many at our school that would die for the chance." Laurel said to Lavender.

"Good bye, James. Hopefully I'll get to know Lavender over the summer?" Leila stepped into the fire after Laurel.

"Nice blokes, hope to see them again. Thank you for letting me meet them, it seems as if you really do have friends!" At this Lavender smiled.

"For that, we're going to make out!" James approached her.

"No! No, wait, yes! Yes! Please, let's!" They made out for a half-hour, at the end of which they were both too tired to carry on, so they prevented themselves from going around the bases.

James had another dream that night, about how everyone died to Voldemort, and it was just James and Voldemort left, and they had to duel to the end. They fought and fought, and James nearly died many times, but in the end, James did in fact die, and he woke up sweating. He went back to sleep and did not hear or dream, or remember anything in the morning…

A/N

I have to reply to some reviews:

Ccbchunks, your idea is mistaken. The room of requirement always goes above and beyond the call of duty, as known in HP 5, Harry doesn't need dark detectors for teaching spells, and he never uses them.

…, Who are you? No, chapter two (Tyranny and Parvati) was not HORNY, someone had asked me to write like that, so I did. I will never (maybe get close) write like that again.

Ccbchunks, I don't mind grammatical errors, and in fact there are very few. I do enjoy that you enjoy the story; it is sort of funny.

Also, I am sorry I didn't make my 5,000-word chapter, but the chapter ends itself, you know. If I were to keep the chapter going, I would have ended up writing two chapters at once! How do you like the length of the chapters? More, less, right amount, never write a chapter again? Let me know! Want me to do this for book six? Let me know! Want me to drown myself in boiling oil? I'm calling the police, but let me know! Thanx, I really like to KNOW, so read and review!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Smoke on the Water

In the morning a few days after the rescue mission, James woke up and decided to have breakfast by himself for once, and he didn't mind because he was perky, and in that mood no one expects him to be in. He knew what he was going to do on this Saturday; he was going to watch Slytherin get smashed by Gryffindor (As has been already explained, our hero is a rather excellent Quidditch player, and knew how to scout. He could tell that Slytherin had very little talent on their team, just superior brooms and superior size.) And then, he would take Lavender out for lunch on the lake. Wouldn't that be fun, he thought. He had his breakfast, and went out to the field with his broom, because he was a back up chaser for the team. He hoped he wouldn't need to play; he didn't like playing because it usually gave him fans, and he didn't enjoy any fame he would get.

At the Pitch, he decided to get on his broom and fly. He flew around and practiced the moves he was supposed to be learning according to his captain and keeper Liesel. He practiced the over-under dodge, and the corkscrew roll. He had just gotten good at both when Alicia Spinnet arrived, and they started practicing together, with some rather difficult passes, and then Katie arrived, and James played Keeper for them. He actually played rather well, surprising even himself, when it was time for them to go to the locker room to change.

"Okay, James, you are very good at Chaser, but we need to go over our moves… the first is…" Alicia tried to tell James, but he interrupted.

"Okay, look, I am a very good chaser, but it is because I don't follow the stupid 'plans' that the rest of the team does. I am not supposed to follow plans. In fact, I am usually slammed always on offense after they see my first goal. They always try to communicate that I have to be removed from the game, but oh well." James had communicated his point, and it was time for the match to begin.

James watched the match by himself, as he was the back-up, and nothing happened, James had little to do, but comment on the game. For more details on the match, see "Phoenix," 406-411.

"C'mon, Ron, block it. Go right! Close those arms! NO!!!"

"Turn around, Katie, a little more, NOOOO!!!!"

"Left, LEFT!! NOOOO!!!!"

"Angelina, go, NOOO!!!"

"Ron, NO!"

"Little further Ron, Katie's almost, NOOO!!!"

Gryffindor was losing, 40-10 when Harry and Malfoy dropped to catch the snitch, and James knew what was going to happen. The snitch moved towards Malfoy, and the two were neck and neck. As Harry had gotten the snitch, James saw Goyle launch the bludger, and watched as the bludger hit Harry in the back. James got up angrily, pulling out his wand. He marched over the field, and saw in the corner of his eye George and Fred being restrained. He didn't care, and so he continued until he was hit on the head with a large force. James was seeing stars, Madam Hooch shouted Impedimenta, and Goyle rushed over to help Crabbe take James down.

Robert had climbed down the stairs, "IMPEDIMENTA!" he fired a spell and hit Crabbe, who was about to hit James again. Crabbe flew off, and James was allowed to roll away, whipping his wand to bear, and shouting "Stupefy" to stun Goyle. Madam Hooch was beside herself when she saw what had happened.

"You cannot use spells on the pitch! That is against school rules! Go to your Head of House immediately! What is that scratch from?" She had seen the blood from James' mouth.

"Uh, that's where Crabbe hit me. I think I lost some teeth." James winced as he touched his cheek.

"Oh, never mind, you were just defending yourself. Well, get to Madam Pomfrey."

James and Robert headed up to the hospital wing, and as he could no longer speak, Robert went with him. As they approached the hospital wing, a large number of spells flew out of the hall in front of them. Robert drew his wand and sprinted down, and turned into the hall. He saw Jeffery Moodi fighting a group of Ravenclaw people, and the fighting was pretty tough. He saw Jeffery fall from the spells flying his way.

"Frohtburth, gogch." James' mouth had swollen for some reason, but Robert understood him. James continued and managed to get to the infirmary.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" Robert dropped three of them. "What the hell? Shieldus Majorica!" The Ravenclaw spells were absorbed by the shield, but the shield then shattered. "Stupefy, stupefy, stupefy, stupefy!" The Ravenclaws revived their comrades, and Robert then shouted, "Multus Fius!" A red ball flew from the tip of Robert's wand, and the ball flew to the middle of the Ravenclaw group. The ball shrunk, and lightning bolts colored red shot out and hit every single Ravenclaw, dropping them. "Wow! I never knew that that spell was that powerful! That's cool!" Robert woke Jeffery up.

"What happened to me?" Jeffery asked.

"I don't know, you were just fighting some people, and I saved your ass!" Robert said, checking Jeffery over.

"Well, I don't know, it just seemed like they came from nowhere, and attacked me. I had no choice but to try and make it back to the headquarters. They followed me. It's lucky that you happened by. I have to go now, see you!" Jeffery went back. Robert searched the Ravenclaws, and found a note.

XXOOXX

Gsviv rh z kvihlm mznvw qvuuvib, zmw sv rh zm vmvnb gl gsv hjfzw. Ivnlev srn. Dv droo kzb bjf dvoo.

OOXXOO

Which was in code. Decoded, it said

There is a person named Jeffery, and he is an enemy to the squad. Remove him. We will pay you well.

Robert didn't understand the names XXOOXX or OOXXOO, because they didn't translate. He could only assume that this was just to throw someone off the path to decoding the code. Well, he would ask James about it later. Now, he had to find Daniel, because he needed to take care of some stuff for Daniel.

"I can't believe this, how did you get Geranum Venom in your blood stream in your mouth? In order for that to happen, you would have to have injected it into your mouth." Madam Pomfrey freaked when she saw the state of his mouth.

James wrote down, "Crabbe hit me in the mouth, knocking a couple of teeth out, and lacerating my cheek. Maybe he had the venom on his hands?"

"I can't believe someone would do something like that. Professor Snape?" She threw some stuff into the fire.

"Yes?" Snape had arrived.

"Can you give me an antidote to Geranum Venom?"

"Where the hell would you find anyone infected with that?"

"Look at James, here. Crabbe had some on his hands, and hit James in the face."

Snape looked at James with surprise. "James, I want to speak with you later. Okay, I'll take care of Crabbe, here's the anti-venom." Snape whipped out a bottle of liquid.

"Here, I have fixed your teeth, and injected the anti-venom. In a half hour, you'll be ready to go see Snape." Madam Pomfrey was still mad.

In a half hour, James left for Snape's office. James had wondered what had happened to Jeffery, because he seemed to have fallen in a strange place. The hall next to the charms room? Why would they choose to attack Jeffery there? James could only assume that a conspiracy was in place to remove Jeffery from the chain of command. Someone had to know about the guerilla forces, and someone had to be trying to end the guerilla force. Little did he know that that someone was Voldemort.

"Yes, Professor?" James had just arrived in Snape's lair.

"McCadell, I just wanted you to know that I would really like to know where that venom came from. Geranum Venom is extremely rare, and it isn't illegal?" Snape stared hard into James' eyes.

"I guess it is, but I think that Crabbe had some. I don't know why or how, but he did seem to have some." James stared into Snape's eyes, trying to detect a lie.

"Well, I believe you, so that will be all." Snape looked at James again.

"Okay, I'll be going then." James got up to leave.

"Oh, wait, I wanted to give you your essay early. I just couldn't stand the… shame… of having an outstanding paper come from Gryffindor. Good job, don't tell anyone, good bye." Snape handed James his essay back.

James looked over his paper, and basked in the glory of his O+. He didn't need the O+, of course, but it was still better than his E+/O- average. He was sort of concerned that he couldn't manage his O average in Snape's class, because he usually managed an O average in potions, but not here. He wrote it down as Snape hating his house.

"OY! JAMES!" Oh, boy. Angelina was apparently mad at him for some reason. "James! We lost both our seekers and beaters. They were dropped from the team, and we need you to play. Will you please play?"

"Look, I'm fine being a back up, but honestly? I can't play for you, I play for Davis Varsity team, and I don't want to start for anyone else. Find some other shmucks for your team, I think the talent pool for this school has been drained." James walked off, heading for the library, looking for Lavender.

"Hey, James, are you okay?" Ah, so she knew that James was in the Infirmary.

"Yes, I am. Want to go to the lake now?" James put his arm around her.

"I was going to go have lunch, but sure! I'd rather be with you anyway." Lavender gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"What makes you think that I cannot conjure my own food?" James pulled a look of utterly fake insult, and they both started laughing.

They walked across the threshold and headed towards the lake. "Really? I never knew. No one else can conjure much until seventh year."

"Yeah, I learned the basics in my third year, and figured out everything else last year. It's no big deal. Here we are, let me conjure the picnic." James waved his wand, and all of their favorite foods appeared on a checkered blanket. Also, a rowboat appeared, all tied up. "Here on land or out in the water?"

"The water, duh!"

James waved his wand again, and everything disappeared, and ordered itself in the boat. "After you, my dear."

Lavender got in the boat, and James followed. James muttered "Musicus" and some soft romantic music started playing, and James and Lavender ate the food and kissed each other. They were having a large amount of fun, when suddenly the boat caught on fire.

"AAAHHH!!!" Lavender screamed, and jumped up.

"Quenchus!" James said, waving his hand at the flame, but instead of going out, the flames rose! "Get off the damn boat! Accio, Phoenix!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Lavender said, pointing her wand at the oar, which was the only part of the boat on fire, even though it was spreading. The oar rose, and then broke in half, half landing in the water, which then proceeded to light on fire! The other half landed on the boat itself! "AAAHHH!!!"

"Here it is, every one on!" He threw Lavender on the broom, which then lifted off, and managed to get back to shore. As for this fire, he thought, he better find a way to get rid of it. "Finite Incantaem!" The fire suddenly stopped, but the heat ignited the rest of the wood.

"JAMES!!! HELP!!!" Lavender screamed as a group of slytherins (James knew a group of them) attacked her.

"Quenchus! Multus Fius!" The fire went out, and a ball went flying to the middle of the group of Slytherins.

"Cancellus Magora!" A Slytherin waved his wand at the ball, which dispersed.

"STUPEFY!" Lavender tried to fight too.

Suddenly, Hermione Granger hopped down the steppes, and fired her own stunning spell into the gang of Slytherins, "Stupefy!"

James had just managed to get back to the shore, and shouted "Tarrantallegra! Furnunculus! Fei! Fei! Fei!"

The slytherin that had countered James' spell stepped from the crowd to engage James. "My name is Blaise Zabini, and I will give your body to the Masters, for much money." He waved his wand, "Stupefy!"

"Protego." He hardly even needed to try to stop this fool's spell. "Stupefy, Fei!" His spells bounced off the shield that Blaise had cast, and he ducked as Blaise's stunning spell flew towards him. "Fei!" This time he got him. "Multus Fius!" And everyone dropped. "Enneverate, Enneverate." James woke up the girls. "Thank you, but it wasn't necessary. Let's check these pockets."

They searched the pockets, and Blaise was carrying a letter.

XXOOXX

Gsviv rh z kvihlm mznvw qznvh, zmw sv rh zm vmvnb gl gsv hjfzw. Ivnlev srn. Dv droo kzb bjf dvoo.

OOXXOO

James quickly deciphered the code; it was just a sideways alphabet. How dumb could you get?

There is a person named James, and he is an enemy to the squad. Remove him. We will pay you well.

Well, that explained the fighting. But who is the squad? And why the hell are they after him? Oh well, he needed to get Lavender to safety, not to mention himself. He was weezing after that fight, and he was about to fall down from exaustion. Firing spells in rapid succession, and getting in a five hundred yard swim sprint in robes, and all that after two extinguishing spells and a counter-jinx? He was pretty beat, and he wanted to go to sleep.

"Hey, James? I meant to tell you, you'll want to see this: This is a letter I got off of the Ravenclaws that attacked Jeffery." Robert showed James a letter identical to the letter James found, except the names were slightly different.

"Wow. This is very, very big. We need to find out about this 'squad,' and, well, defeat them." James said. Robert stared at him. "Oh, God, that is soooo cheesy that I can't believe I actually said that. Sorry."

"That's okay. I agree, but I won't repeat the cheesy statement. So, see you tomorrow?" Robert went down to the dungeons.

"Hey, Lavender, I need to unwind after that. What say you and I…" James said, winking.

"Oh, yeah. Let's head up to that common room!" Lavender grabbed James' hand, and sprinted up to the common room. Once they had gotten there, Lavender led James to the chair next to the fire. "Let the make out session begin!!!"

After about thirty minutes, James and Lavender headed up to bed. James didn't have another strange dream that night, but he did feel a strange longing to go down to the grounds. There he felt he would find the secret that he needed to find. But that would have to wait, because he needed sleep, and he also had hen duty tomorrow. With that thought, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, James woke up to a snow-covered morning, and was shocked to discover that there were tracks leading to the hut. He was concerned, who could it be? He sprinted down the stairs, whipping his jacket on. He then pulled his cloak on, (his cloak was thin and didn't keep the cold out, just the sun) and pulled the door open, and began his sprint to the forest.

When James got into the forest, he realized that something was wrong. How was it that cold outside, but this warm on the inside? He looked around and immediately liked the place. There was a place that a landing pad could be placed, not to mention a Morse code lamp, so they could signal the Gryffindor tower. In fact, he couldn't see why the forest was forbidden. He was walking down the path, when a howl told him why this was the **forbidden** forest.

"Ah, shit, a werewolf. Just what I need!" James pulled his wand, and turned around to see the seven-foot erect beast. "Avada Ke-" the werewolf snatched the wand out of his hand. "Damn, it's not like killing werewolves is hard enough with a wand, but no one told me they could steal wands too!" James drew his sword. "Eat this, sum!" He slashed the sword, cutting the werewolf's front paws clean off. The werewolf blood flew everywhere. Then James, with his newly red sword, hacked off the head of the werewolf, and watched it writhe, and crumble to dust in front of his eyes. "Wow, never killed a werewolf before… AHH!" he saw two beams of light in his face, and he covered his eyes with his hands. The car roared past him, and James swore afterwards that the car trampled the body of the werewolf.

James continued deeper into the bowels of the forest, feeling scared by the sounds in the distance. Every once and a while, some random critters would follow him, and he would use the command word for fear to scare them off. He suddenly felt cold. Even the trees seemed to freeze up, and icicles seemed to form from the trees. Wait, that wasn't his imagination, he started to sprint towards the center of the forest. Damn, that's all he needed. Dementors. Where the hell did they come from? He had heard of the Dementors that took the guarding post of Azkaban, but there weren't any remaining wild colonies since Voldemort's last rein. Hopefully, but no, these Dementors weren't wild, they must be here for a reason. He kept running, until suddenly what he saw something that chilled his bones even more than the Dementors…

AN: Isn't that a cliffy? What a great place to end the chapter, don't you agree? Well, so do I, but, the spacing doesn't allow some of these nice little nuances like cliffies. So, I guess I'll have to find another place to land the cliffie. Stay tuned! (Yeah, I'm a sadist, so sue me!!!)

A large, humungous shape was in the trees. It looked like a bent over giant, or like a large hill. It spoke, "Aragog, we have visitors!"

"Mmmmmm, good, I have wanted to eat. Is it Hagrid?" Aragog asked.

"No, it is not. However, it is human, and it is alone. No cars to save them this time."

"Too bad for it. Kill it. Don't make too much of a mess. Wake me when we are ready to eat."

"Yes, Aragog. Yes, father." The acromantula approached him.

"Holy shit! Avada Kedavra!" The spell did something funny. It hit the acromantula and bounced off with a large explosion, and there seemed to be no effect on the acromantula. "Shit!" He ducked the legs flying at him, and grabbed at one of them. He pulled himself into a flip over the bar, and he flew into the air like a gymnast. He flipped so that his feet were under him, and landed feet first on the acromantula's head. He then leaped off, did a flip, and landed on the ground. He sprinted under the acromantula and pointed his wand up, and shouted "Avada Kedavra!" The green light hit the creature, and instantly killed it. He then sprinted out from underneath.

He transformed, and sprinted to the next acromantula, and disemboweled it with swift action from his teeth, sprinting around to the other acromantulas, transforming again, and using the slicing hex on the acromantula's stomach. The beast screamed as a huge gash appeared in his underbelly. The gash poured blood, and a few internal organs as well. James moved, but he was still soaked to the bone in gore.

"Well, Aragog, It's been nice knowing you, but I think I need to go. Like right now. Good bye!!!" With that, James sprinted the direction that would lead out of the forest. But it didn't matter; there was no way he was going to leave the forest with his health. He kept running until he ran into another hill. It was a giant. A rather small giant, But it was still too big for James to handle. He decided to turn around and leave, when he saw five werewolves surrounding him. "Oh boy, friends. What fun."

AN: There it is, the cliffy. If only, if only, this cliffy would survive, we could end this chapter, and make it to the sky. Actually, I just did this to prove that I know how to keep a chapter going after it is dead. Who knows, there may be a singular one hundred-word chapter in the future, let me know. Do you want hundred word chapters, or five-thousand word chapters? It's your call, so let ME, the author, know. Also, I would like to take the time to mention that I love writing this fiction. Because that's all it is, my wonderful imagination coupled with J.K. Rowling's world (at least until the loan comes through Insert: EvilManiacleLaugh.wav) so, even though you **think** you've known the character James for all five books, and even though he really belongs in the story for real (hint hint, Ms. Rowling) he really isn't real. At least, he isn't a real Harry Potter fantasy. As in, he's not really fake. (LOL, don't you love logic?) Well, he is MINE and so are the other AMERICANS, as well as DANIEL TANNER, ROBERT MELENDINO, JEFFERY MOODI, and the other made up characters. The story line is also mine. Actually, Blaise Zambini isn't mine. That one is actually in the first book, he is actually a Slytherin fifth year. Isn't that weird? The characters people think I've made up actually exist. Well, I'll let you know from now on whose characters are whose. Actually, I think I will end this chapter now. Sorry it's so short, but I could leave you in a really cool cliffhanger right now, and I have no reason not to. It just makes you want to come back for more, now doesn't it. Oh, by the way, I should clear some stuff up. Daniel Tanner is a fifth year in Ravenclaw, Robert Melendino is a fourth-year Slytherin, Jeffery Moodi is a third year Hufflepuff (he is actually a great wizard, just wait and see!!!) and those three and James represent, anyone? That's right, they are all from different houses. Now, I wonder how that fits into the story line of HP 5? Anyone? That's right, the sorting hat's song. See now? This is sooo worthy of J.K. Rowling's reading pleasure; I even made it snug around the edges, and closed up part of the open-ended world. Hey, what else is known about the fab four? Yes, that's right, the Hufflepuff is the youngest, followed by the Slytherin. Any idea why that might be? Okay, here goes: The hufflepuff was true to his house, and he worked really hard, and was recruited by Robert. Robert was very, very, very ambitious, and he wanted to always do his best. See? That puts the house context where it should be. The best house is Hufflepuff, followed by Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and then Gryffindor. HAHAHAHA! You heard it here first! Sixth book spoiler: Ron and Hermione will go out. I swear. They'll break up when Harry and Hermione are kissing. I swear. You heard it here first! Good Bye till next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

COOL, Chapter 7 is here, isn't that great?

Chapter 7: Werewolves, Dementors, The Squad, OH MY!

He looked around at the werewolves that had closed in around him. He knew that he would have to do something, but what? He couldn't try to run; he was surrounded. So he began to cast a multiple stunner spell, but the wand failed the spell, James was just too frazzled to actually cast it. So, he decided that he would draw his sword to keep them off of him, at least for a while. It could indeed turn out that James couldn't fight them, and he would become a lycanthrope as well. That would be tough, he decided, so he charged the alpha-male.

The alpha male ducked, turned around, and slashed with his claw, and James, sensing the danger, ducked himself, and turned the blade in. The werewolf's hand was cut off, and blood spewed everywhere. The werewolf slashed with his hand, and he got inside James' blade. James jumped back, but not fast enough. He got his stomach lashed, and a deep gash appeared in James' abdomen, and he cringed, dropping the blade. He pulled out his wand and stared the creature down.

"STUPEFY!" The spell flew, and just missed the werewolf, and hit a tree. The tree instantly wilted, and it looked dead. "Stupefy! Stupefy!" The werewolf was a little too cocky for James, he needed to put the beast in its place, but he couldn't seem to land a spell on it. It continued to charge towards him when suddenly he got an idea. "Accio Sword!" The blade picked up speed, and flew from behind James. James ducked and disengaged his spell, and the blade kept flying right through the werewolf's head, slicing it like an over-ripe cantaloupe. "Damn, Laurel, I never knew that you were that good at sharpening a blade." James resolved to write her a letter when he got back to the castle. For now, there was just a man with a blade versus four peeved werewolves.

The battle began when the werewolves charged James. He stepped aside, and dropped his blade lazily. His sword cut off the legs of one of the wolves, and another tried to bite him. He tried to limbo underneath it, but fell backwards causing the werewolf to fly over him and land in a heap. James thrust his sword into the beast, and the sword exited on the other side of the body.

"Well, he's dead."

The fighting continued, as the remaining werewolves charged again, only this time with a little more intelligence. They sprinted to the outskirts of the clearing, and all charged him from different directions. He held his blade at the ready, and quickly transfigured one of the werewolves into a housecat. Turning aside, he thrust his sword into the mouth of the lycanthrope in front of him, and dodged the one behind him. The house cat charged him, and he pulled out his wand to kill it.

WHAM! The werewolf had snuck up from behind him and smashed him in the head. James' wand went flying, specifically right into the cat's eye. The wand was thin enough to penetrate the membrane of the eye and lodge itself in the brain. The cat wailed as he felt so much pain from the piece of wood in his brain, and James knew the cat wouldn't live too long, so he turned his attention to the other werewolf, who was circling him and eyeing him warily. James stuck! The blade flew faster than ever, but the werewolf was too quick, he smacked the blade out of James' hand, making it fly into the air and stick in the mud. James whipped out his other wand.

"Avada Kedavra!" James waved his wand, but the spell shot out of his hand. The werewolf had expected a spell out of the wand, and dodged it, but there was no spell. The spell came from slightly below and to the left, the direction that the werewolf was heading. The werewolf died. "Finally." James withdrew his wand from the cat's eye, and wiped it on the cat's fur. James turned to leave.

"Grawp Hungry." The hill spoke.

"Um, here you go, this is for you." He gestured the lycanthrope bodies.

"Thanks."

"Right." James sprinted from the area, wanting to never come back there again.

Soon, he started to notice icicles. He was afraid, and slowed to a walk, lighting his wand. He looked around, and noticed no one. He continued to walk. The air was growing cold, and he heard a distant hum. He walked a little faster.

"Dwinel, my liege, I am sorry about the news. We have gotten most of them."

"This victory is tainted by there continuing elusiveness. I wanted them all dead, not scattered. If one still survives, I have failed."

"But, you lordship, what about Voldemort? Perhaps they could…"

"They could do nothing. There is only one who can kill Voldemort, but I might be able to control him."

"Who, the boy or the dark lord?"

"Both, but mostly the dark lord. Well, are we going to move in to the complex?"

"No, my lord, first we must kill the McCadells, and then we can proceed."

"Make it so."

James screamed. "No! No! They were killed years ago! It, DEMENTORS! They are here! Expecto Patronum!" The patronus was only a silver vapor, because James didn't really want to make it. He concentrated harder on his first kiss. "Expecto Patronum!" This time, the wolf-shaped patronus actually got out, and attacked the dementor. He saw about three more coming from behind him. "Over here! Now!" The wolf turned around and charged the new comers. It was time for James to book. But suddenly, he found himself face to face with a wizard in a cloak.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" The high laugh made James think of Voldemort. "You wandered into the forest like a good child, now watch as the Dark Lord kills you! Avada Kedavra!"

"Cancellous Magor!" The spell dissipated as James muttered the counter spell. James took his other wand and shouted, "Reappero!" Making Voldemort suddenly fly through space and time to a random location. James had no clue as to were that was, but he did know that he had postponed the inevitable. They would meet again. James sprinted back to the castle.

"Dumbledore!" James was panting, and he had just made it to Dumbledore's office. "Dumbeldore, I was in the forbidden forest, and there were Dementors. I also fought Voldemort! What is going on? I thought Hogwarts was safe!"

"No where is safe, James, only safer. I am sorry about your fight, I really am. Perhaps you should take a rest, and not leave the common room tonight." Dumbledore looked stern. "But either way, I need to inspect the grounds. Good bye, James, Lavender seems to be looking for you."

James left the office, and headed down for lunch. He got half way down the steps when he saw Daniel Tanner fighting off a large group of Hufflepuffs. He was winning, and James saw no reason to get involved. Then Hannah Abbot decided to fire a spell that James had seen only once before. The spell bounced off of all the walls, and headed for Daniel.

"Cancellous Magor!" James tried to counter the spell, but the spell just slowed down a little. "Shieldus Majorica!" James' shield blocked a large portion of the spell, but Daniel still flew about ten feet.

"Thank you, James!" Daniel continued the fight for about ten seconds, and then all of his opponents were defeated.

"Hold on, check their pockets." James had an idea.

"Sure. What am I looking for?" Daniel had started to search the pockets for anything.

"One of them has a note, addressed to XXOOXX and signed by OOXXOO. This particular note will say 'There is a person named Daniel and he is an enemy to the squad. Remove him. We will pay you well.' The note will be in code, specifically the sideways alphabet code. Enjoy!" James smiled grimly.

"How the hell did you know?" Daniel had just pulled out the letter.

"Simple, the group attacking me had one that targeted me, and Jeffery…"

"Had one targeting him! So, what about Robert?"

"He was already attacked, I think, back at the Quidditch match, not that I could check their pockets."

"Oh."

"You honestly didn't think that Robert was against us!"

"Dude, he's in Slytherin!"

"I know, and I haven't a problem with that. He's a great friend, and he is a powerful wizard! Why would I care what house he's in?" James was sort of mad. "And anyway, he started the group, so why would he start it if he wanted to end it?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I forgot, all that he's done, he's like **perfect** and stuff, not like that wouldn't be a perfect cover." Daniel said, sarcastically.

"DANIEL TANNER! If you ever, ever say that again, if I get **wind** that you are trying to incriminate Robert again, I will throw you out of the group, and bring a new definition of pain to you."

"Sorry, I was out of line. I will head back to headquarters, sir. I will see you later, sir. I will apologize to R, Commander Melendino."

"Dismissed." Daniel walked off, after saluting. Wow, James thought, I'd better stop this anti-Slytherin feeling from spreading. Maybe I should remind them about how the other two attacks were from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and that the only house that doesn't seem to be attacking anyone is Gryffindor.

"Hey, James?"

James jumped like a jackrabbit on caffeine. "Yes, Lavender?"

"You gonna go to lunch? I need to talk to you." Lavender grabbed his hand.

"Okay. Let's go!" James and Lavender walked to the Great Hall.

As they started dishing food, Lavender turned to him and said, point blank, "I don't want to have sex until after marriage."

Oh, so that is what this is about. "Of course, but why bring it up now?"

"Because I know what you did with Parvati, and I am not like that." Lavender took a bite.

"I never said you were, and I was going to wait for you to ask, anyway. What's this about really?" James was confused. He had already told her that she would determine the speed they went around the bases, why would she think differently now?

"I was talking to Parvati, and she told me that you told her that it was just a matter of time before you 'bang' me like you did her, and she told me that I should get out of the relationship fast. She said that you had told her the same thing during your relationship, and that you had pressured her into having sex with you." Lavender was still holding a mad face.

"Um, sorry, but she did ask me, and that would go for you too, I love you too much to force you into something like that!" James was shocked.

"Oh, God, sorry, I can't believe that I believed Parvati like that. Holy shit, I, I am so glad that I waited to ask you about it before breaking up with you. I just don't want to lose my virginity and you."

"You would have lost one or the other with Parvati's theory, but you'll lose neither under my theory. I have to talk to Parvati about that one, she isn't supposed to lie about me, or repeat anything I say to her. She really is a bad friend." James looked at Lavender's face for a reaction.

"Not usually. I think she's just jealous because you love me a lot more than you loved her."

"Fair enough, but then again, what did you think when she told you this lie?"

"I thought, couldn't be, James would never do that to me, but then she told me about you two, and I thought, either way, both sides could lie, and I wouldn't know the difference. I guess I would follow James and not Parvati until Parvati was proved right." Lavender sighed. "I really don't want to lose you James. I don't want to ruin the past month and a half."

"That's okay. I love you."

James and Lavender spent the rest of the day with each other, going outside to fight with snowballs. The team James got together was James, Lavender, and Robert versus Fred, George, and Lee. To start, they made forts. James' team used the locomotion charm to make a fort that was three and a half feet tall, and a half ellipse with a flat edge facing Fred's team. They started the fight. James used the banishing spell to deflect the snowballs thrown at him, and used the scooping charm to make perfect snowballs. Lavender and Robert threw the snowballs. In the end, James' team owned Fred's team, and Fred raised a white flag. They all started hitting the Gryffindor window with snowballs. They all laughed when the window opened, and even harder when Ron was hit by the snowball that was halfway there already.

"Well, Lavender, what's up?" James decided to get a conversation started.

"I don't know, but let me tell you, I really like Frank Zappa." Lavender looked energized.

"His music is good, what song do you like most?"

"I really like My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama, the Strictly Commercial version. And you?"

"I like Trouble Every Day and I Am The Slime from the same cd."

"Cool! What's that?" Lavender looked over James' shoulder.

"Um, a muggle device for music storage." James said.

"No, that!" She pointed over James' shoulder.

James turned around. "I don't see nothiiinnnggg!!!" Lavender had pinched James on the ass. Lavender was laughing. "Come here, you prankster!" James grabbed her and kissed her. Lavender stopped laughing, and started kissing James. They made out until dinner, when they ate together, then went up for bed.

A few weeks later, in the dorm, James was woken up by the startling dream that he had. He had just been killed by Harry Potter, who had fangs like a snake. Still, it was better than a lesson about Thestrals. He didn't want to remember that he had seen Zoe die. Seeing the Thestrals had let James know that Zoe was human, in the most fundamental way. She loved, and she had values, and that was what made a human, not two legs or a brain that few used. Zoe was smarter than some humans James knew, and Ben came to mind. But wait, Ben had saved Lauren's life, right? Well, Zoe had saved his life, and gave hers in the process. Suddenly, James saw Harry thrashing in his bed.

"NOOOOOO!!!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!" Harry was screaming, and James whipped out his wand. "Wakus!" Nothing happened. "WAKUS!" This time James whacked Harry with his wand. Still nothing. "Why the hell can't the damn guy wake up?" "WAKUS! WAKUS, WAKUS, WAKUS!" Harry was still thrashing in his sleep.

"Holy shit, what's going on?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, Ron," James sounded exasperated.

"Hey, what's wrong with Harry?" Neville asked.

"We don't know, Neville." Ron said.

"WAKUS!" James tried again.

"God damn it, James, we need to get someone." Dean shouted.

"WAKUS!" James tried a final time, and this time Harry woke up.

"I'm still going for someone!"

"What happened?"

"Someone, your dad, Ron, was attacked. They, he, is dying."

James suddenly understood something. "Listen, Ron? Make sure that Harry is okay. I need to go see Malfoy about something. See you later!"

James headed outside the common room, and walked down to the dungeons. As he expected, Draco Malfoy and his cronies were there. It was the showdown, right here and now. James drew his wand.

"You won't be needing that, James. I'll crush you with or without wands. Take your pick." Malfoy was exceedingly cocky.

"Um, with. Duh, I am so much more powerful than anyone at this school with a wand. Bring it!"

The fight began. "Malucus Fagoricon!" James said, twitching his wand.

"Grounhimer!" Malfoy said. The light from his wand (blue) met the silvery spell with a bang like a cannon.

"GAINERU!" James shouted. The explosion of spells ended, and the previous silver spell flew like an arrow towards Malfoy, who didn't get out of the way. Sticks appeared out of nowhere and dropped on Malfoy, then got up and hit Malfoy of their own accord. This was the stick-bogey jinx, and a feared one.

"Grounhimer!"

"MOLERUS ETHT!" The blue light flew against the shield that James had conjured, and a large echo, like a hammer on a gong, occurred as both the hammer curse and the shield charm were destroyed, each cancelled out by the other spell's effects.

"Avada Kedavra!" Malfoy was insane now.

"Cancellus Magor!" The killing curse was dispelled.

"Morellun Pairn!" Now he went back to the slicing curse.

"FEI!" The spells collided, but the magical powers were even, and so they just exploded.

Now it was James' turn to take the floor. "Cruciana!" The silvery light flew straight and true. Malfoy ducked, but his hair just touched the curse.

"AAAHHH!!!" Malfoy was screaming from the pain of the spell. He kept screaming, and James disarmed him, destroyed the wand, and waited for the curse to end. And when the curse lifted, James simply stunned him and walked away.

"Damn, that was pretty tough. I wish Malfoy didn't know the hammer curse, but I guess he does. Well, I wonder whether or not Lavender is in the common room yet?"

James made it into the common room. "Hey, James! How's it going?" Lavender was excited.

"Pretty good."

"What's that cut on your arm?"

"Nothing. So, what's going on up here?"

"Nothing at all. McCgonnagal just took Harry out to Dumbledore's office. Oh well, at least you're here!"

"Come here, you!" They made out.

Later that week, everything sort of slowed down. It was just a few short days since Harry had left, but James and Hermione were spending more time together. James still like Lavender, and all three hung out together. James and Lavender played a lot of chess, while Hermione tried to quiz James about spells.

"Flying?"

"Wingardium Leviosa, regular, Wing Lev, second level, Muri Purse, Silverlode. Why?"

"Just seeing if you knew."

It was almost as if she was trying as hard as possible to catch James in a mistake. After each and every time that James answered the question right, Lavender flashed James a smile, so James got to see a lot of what he loved most: Lavender's smile. James went 20-21 against Lavender, who was spectacularly good at wizard chess, where as James was only pretty good at it, and his only good skill at the game was his random strategies that were designed from his horrible little brother's random opening moves. No one had a defense to the rook coming out turn three, but James had no use for the rook, either. Soon the end of term came, and it was time for everyone to head home.

"I'll miss you, Lavender. I'll send you a recording of the Quidditch game that I will be playing in. I'll also call you often. Still have that phone I gave you? Good. Expect a call on Christmas, and definitely expect a gift. Good bye!" James gave her a hell of a kiss. Then, they parted their ways, and would not see each other until term began.

James enjoyed the travel back to America. He simply apparated to the "Magical Trans-Atlantic Transportation" docks, and waited for the next portkey. He had wondered recently why he had not apparated to England, and he realized that he could not have possibly apparated over that large a distance. Well, his portkey was up. Time to go, he missed Lavender all ready. He grabbed on to the portkey, and felt that tugging, and he was in Sacramento California International Portkey Port. And, there was his posse. Leila, Laurel, Ariel, even Liesel had come.

"JAMES!" Liesel shrieked, smiling. "Oh, God, James, I missed you. I, we, the team can't play nearly as well without you. Their moral is gone; we miss both your skills on the pitch and your humor in the locker room. So, so glad that you will play this weekend. Good God we are only fair. I had to pick up that JV kid, you know, the chaser 2 guy, to play your spot, and we didn't own like we used to. Remember that game when you scored thirty of thirty-one scores? And the JV team won 460-150? That was great, your performance allowed the JV team to win even if Vacaville had gotten the snitch. I picked you to succeed our old chaser, remember? And we started going out, and it turned out we really were meant for each other, and" Liesel was interrupted by James.

"Okay, yes, I remember, and I have another girlfriend right now. She happens to be the best thing to ever happen to me, and I am definitely the best thing to ever happen to her. We hooked up after her boyfriend had dumped her, and I took her in, and we started to go steady." James was happy to see Liesel, who had hugged him rather tightly on arrival, but he did not really need the history lesson. "Okay, no more hugs, I am still trying to catch my breath." James said to Leila and Laurel who had gotten his luggage, and were bewitching it to fly above their heads with the locomotion spell.

"All right, if you insist." Laurel wore a big smile.

"Ha ha. Now I am insulted. You hate me!" James pulled a face of mock hurt.

"Actually, you better leave the hugging to Lauren. She could use one from you right about now." Leila was back to business in her usual manner. "She had been in a quasi-coma ever since her capture. I have no idea as to how that happened, what about you James?"

"Well, that can happen, I guess, and I know one way to save her, but I don't know if she can perform the spell…" James trailed off, looking into the sky. Was she a good enough witch?

"Well, of course she can't, she's in a coma!" Leila looked at him.

"No, after the coma. There is a strange spell that can only be used by you if someone has used it on you. And you can use it once; you then need someone to use the spell on you again. This spell is the only spell known to wake someone from near death one hundred percent of the time. But, it is immensely complex, and I don't know if she can use it. Oh well, I guess I am obligated to save her. Let's go." James led the way to the car, so they could head to Davis, so they could go to the hospital.

The car ride was pretty eventless. Liesel sat next to James, and kept talking to him, while Leila and Laurel joined in the conversation, at James' bidding and Liesel's displeasure. As the car stopped at the hospital, James reminded Liesel that he was already going out with someone. Laurel smiled and Leila couldn't beloeve that James and Lavender were still together.

"Okay, kids, it's time to get to Lauren!" Laurel's dad said.

"Thank you for the ride, and, well, I'm glad you agreed to take Liesel with you." Liesel smiled.

"No problem." Laurel's dad said. "I'd do it again."

So they all walked inside, and James headed over to the receptionist and asked, "Excuse me, where is Lauren Chrass?"

"Floor three, ward four." The receptionist went back to sleep.

"What a job, sleeping all day. I wonder what classes you need, probably O.W.L. herbology, DADA, Potions, and some public speaking class. They probably help the healers when something bad happens. Who knows?" James asked.

"So, James, did you manage your first transformation okay?" Leila asked, as they were both I the Animagus class.

"Yes, I turned into a leopard, and freaked out a little girl." James smiled as the rest of the crew laughed.

"Yeah, out of the thirty kids, aside from you, that took the class, it's just me and Daniel left now. The rest dropped because it was so hard. You seem to manage; though, what's your secret?" Leila looked curious.

"Um, skills, intelligence, hope, magical prowess, anything that'll help." James was uncomfortable.

"The professor wants to speak with you tomorrow. Go in there, as a Leopard, the rest of us have not managed to do the transformation yet." Leila said.

"Well, I thought we had to manage the transformation on that day! I worked extra hard at it when I realized that! I put in about three extra hours a night just to manage the date! I thought we had to do two animal transformations." James was confused.

"No, silly, the second one is just to see if you can do it."

"Well, I am still going to try."

"Suit yourself. One is hard enough."

At this point they crossed the threshold for Lauren's ward. They headed straight for Lauren's bed. "Oh God, Lauren, wake up!" James leaned over and hugged her gently. He started to cry.

"She's been like this since we rescued her. We think that Voldemort put a strange spell on her."

"Finite Incantatem!" Nothing happened. "Oh well, if it was Voldemort, then I couldn't use finite incantatem to lift a spell, he is at least as powerful as I am."

"So what are you going to do, James?" Leila asked, while Liesel looked directly at James and Laurel looked at Lauren.

"I have one other option, but if I do it, you have to promise that you will never tell Ben, and you have to promise that no one else ever hears about this. You also have to promise that Lauren will train every day. I need my trust returned on this, I only have one shot, and one shot only." James turned around and walked out.

"Where are you going?" Laurel asked.

"The bathroom, duh!" James walked out.

"Lauren, guess what, James has a spell that will cure you! Aren't you excited?" Lauren didn't move.

Just then the healer came in. "Where is James? He wanted to see me about a spell."

"He's at the bathroom, he should be back" Leila started.

"Now." James finished.

"Okay, what's this spell?" The healer asked.

"The spell is called 'The Healing Charm' and it is done like this: A person has the spell in them. They cast it on someone, and that person can cast the spell once. If the spell is ever cast on you, you can cast the spell once more. If you are not born into the spell, and someone used the spell on you, and someone else uses the spell on you again, prior to your using the spell you already had, you can only cast the spell once. It will heal almost anything, and wake a person from any coma." James said.

"I have heard of that, and I agree with you. Go ahead if you have the spell." The healer stepped out of the way.

"Are you born into the spell, James?" Liesel asked.

"Not at all, I just had the spell used on me." James said, and rolled up his sleeves. "Unerian Polcrit, Decana Bright. Moreheal, Soreheal, Noreal Blight!"

The lights dimmed, and a large purple wall appeared out of James' wall. Long and thin strips of light the colors of the rainbow spiraled from the floor around the newly fashioned pillar of purple. There was no other light but this, and the glow only bounced off of human flesh, so it was dark, and yet they could see eachother. Suddenly, the spirals of light poured into Lauren's eyes. In another thirty seconds, the purple pillar moved, and charged Lauren's head, entering her at the forehead. The lights came on.

"Cool!" Laurel said.

"Yeah." Liesel said.

"That was pretty awesome," Leila said.

"I have never seen that spell before, and, well, I want to see it again. That was cool." James said.

"What are you talking about?" Said Lauren.

"Holy shit, you're awake!" Laurel jumped when she heard the voice.

"Duh," Lauren said.

"So the spell worked, and Lauren is with us." James looked relieved.

"Where would I have gone? Thank you for rescuing me from Voldemort, guys." Lauren said.

"You don't understand, it's actually been about seven weeks since that happened."

"Oh, my, GOD!" Now Lauren freaked out.

"Yep. You have been asleep for seven weeks, and you never knew it. Ben was here every day, by your side, not letting anyone else come near you. He thought that since he was your favorite person it should be him that you woke up to." Leila said, with an obvious scowl.

"Git. Anyhoo, I knew what was up, and I came back for winter break. I figured that you had some residual effects left over from the torturing, and I knew the spell that would save you. And I knew that I could cast it, too. Well, instead of Ben, the first person you saw was me. Then you saw your other friends. So, how do you feel?" James said.

"Fine. And what is a git?"

"I don't really know, other than it is not a good thing."

"Don't insult," Lauren tried to say.

"I'll insult anyone who is stupid enough to keep a large group of friends away from Lauren. That was the dumbest thing ever; we even prevented anyone from summoning him. But I have a decent reason for that. And, of course, I will tell you about that reason later." James said. "For now, we need to go. Pretend to sleep, and we'll send Ben. When Ben is in the room, wake up, and act like you think it is still seven weeks ago. See you tonight!" Everyone left the room.

"Is she okay?" The healer asked.

"Yes. But act like she's in a coma until she tells you, okay?"

"Any reason?"

"Many. But none that I can tell you."

JAMES: LAUREN CAN BE SAVED. THERE ARE THREE SPELLS, AND THEY TRANSFER HOPE, COURAGE, AND HAPPINESS! REMEMBER!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Davis Varsity Quidditch Club

"What? Why did you, what the, I don't want her seeing anyone else when she wakes up!" Ben shouted when James had told him where he was.

"Yeah, that is rather selfish of you as she needs everyone. You idiot!" James was ticked. He thought that Ben had some sense in him, and had respect ever since the Voldemort thing, but now he couldn't stand Ben again. Wow, that respect was short lived.

"Wow. Looking in a mirror?" Ben said.

James' wand was out in a flash, and Ben jumped behind the couch. "See? Already you remember what this did to you in your fourth year! Let's not let it happen again, shall we?"

"Well, at least I have a girlfriend. All the girls at that school probably hate you." Ben snarled from behind the couch.

"Actually, my girlfriend is much hotter than Lauren. She is also a better witch than you. I'll bet you couldn't beat her in a duel." James said, not lowering his wand.

"There is a lot changed about me."

"I see your intelligence hasn't increased." James muttered something, and an image of him talking appeared. He stepped to the right silently.

"Well, I don't know, your face is still there, so no improvements on you." Ben gripped his wand tighter. He knew that he had only one shot to get James. And it sounded as if he hadn't moved. Ben jumped over the couch "Stupefy!"

"Cruciana!" The real James shouted, and James spell hit Ben, while Ben's spell exploded against James' image spell.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Ben was screaming as loud as he could.

"That'll learn him." James muttered, then he headed out to the quidditch pitch.

"Okay team, this is the big one. We are playing the Sacramento team, and as you know, they are the best in the league right now. However, we have a bonus that puts us heads and tails above them: we have James back." Liesel said to the team, and waited for the clapping to end.

"Hey, Capn' K!" James said, with a wave.

"At last, he comes back." Marie Fisher, the first chaser, said.

"Okay, team, we have another day of practice, and then the game. Don't forget, they have a great seeker. This guy has caught the snitch one hundred percent of the time, and that is why they are undefeated. Beaters, all bludgers after the seeker, Chasers, score quickly, Keeper, block all goals, Seeker; our win isn't going to be through you. The win will come from James. He needs to put up a quick fifteen quaffles. In fact, we need to not let them get the quaffle. Got it? Break, and get practicing!" Liesel ended her speech, and the team got their brooms and headed out.

"Wow, you got a new broom!" James said to Adam Prack.

"Yeah, it's a firebolt! Tell you what, let's make a quick inside game plan. You score, I'll get the quaffle from the other side of the hoops. I am fast enough to get the quaffle, and you have the skills to score. Let's practice that." Adam said.

"Sure. Hey, look, I am going to try and locate the snitch for David, okay?" James said.

"Yeah, hey! David got a new broom too; he got a Nimbus 3000. It's so good on him! I can't believe that he wouldn't get the snitch. Okay, here we go, the Pitch." Adam said, and the entire team pulled into a light dive to land in the middle of the pitch.

"Okay, here we go, I'll have a beater on my team, and our seeker. I will also use the JV chasers, to signify our advantages and disadvantages. Okay, read? Go!" Liesel started the game.

A bludger came after James and he dodged it rather easily. Then James saw it, the quaffle and its trajectory. He zoomed in, and just as Liesel was about to grab it, he nabbed it, spun his broom like the ballet, and threw it into the far hoop. They started again. James got in the way of Adrian Pride, and pulled the quaffle, and sped up. He scored the goal, and Adam got the quaffle, and passed it up to James at the clear line, who then scored again. They repeated this process twice before another chaser managed to get in Adam's way. James saw the snitch, and signaled to his seeker were it was. As he scored twice more, the seeker pulled into a helluva dive.

"Damn it, no!" James was ticked, had he never heard of discretion: the better part of valor? Man, it was a wonder if this guy would ever manage to be a part of the team.

David had followed Nick, who had the sense to change directions and lure David into a feint. As Nick almost hit the ground, he pulled up, where as David tried to pull up, scraped the ground, and fell off of his broom. He summoned the broom with a wave of his wand, and mounted. He then took off, after the skies. The score was already 200-10, their superior chasers doing everything. James himself had stolen the quaffle a whopping thirteen times, and scored a smashing sixteen against the best keeper in the league. The snitch flew right up to him and he caught it.

"Okay, good job team. We have a shot tomorrow, then. Nice job, JV seeker. That was a seriously nice Wronski Feint you pulled off there. James, nice chasing. You owned me. Also, Adam, James, nice combo duo, you had my chasers tired as hell. Let's play like this tomorrow, and we will make it to the play offs!"

Later, James caught up with Liesel. "Hey! Capn'! You mean you might not make the playoffs?"

"Yeah, but only if we lose, and Vacaville and Woodland win. We have the second last seed, and we have beaten everyone in the bracket that we will be in, anyway. So, why do you ask?"

"I didn't know I meant that much to the team."

"You do. You scored sixteen goals on me! What about that one game, you know, the one that lasted ten hours, where you scored a hundred goals? And you had the sixty steals? And you ended up catching the snitch because both seekers had collided? You are the team. You're the best chaser ever, you have the skills to pull your broom into the right spot, and win the game! I have not seen anyone who can come close." Liesel said, smiling at him.

James had butterflies in his stomach. A complement from the girl he had chased for three years? He had gone to the sixth grade, fell in love with her, and had tried to go out with her for the next three years. He had accepted defeat just when she decided that he wasn't that bad. James still had butterflies in his stomach whenever she smiled and he saw it. He had butterflies whenever he was anywhere near her. He did still love her, but he was with Lavender now. Even when he had asked her out, she seemed to say yes because it was the polite thing to do, not because she wanted to. And now she wanted to go out with him?

"What are you thinking about, James?" Liesel asked, seeing James zone out.

"Well, about you. I remember that I tried to go out with you for three years, and then you had a crush on me for two years, and then when your crush ended, I asked you out. Remember the date? We saw a movie, ate a great dinner, and then we watched the stars on the levy. That was the best date I ever had, but you never spoke to me afterwards. You only spoke to me when you found out that I was going to England. So, what gives? You seem to like me again." James said.

"I do, James, I never stopped liking you. I picked you for the quidditch team because I liked you. Sure, you had skills, but that just guaranteed your spot. I wanted you on the team, and I was captain, and your selection made sense. You were the best chaser, and we needed a chaser, so I picked you. I ran into some interference, but then we re-arranged the roster and fixed it." Liesel said, looking into James' eyes.

"Well, it's time for the celebration in about a half-hour. I better get home to hear the good news." James said.

"What news?" Liesel said.

"Didn't you hear? Lauren is okay!" James and Liesel laughed, and James left on his broom.

James was flying in the very, very cool evening and looking down to find Lauren's house. He kept forgetting where Lauren's house was, but found it eventually. He rang the doorbell and waited.

"Yes? Oh, James! Come on in!" Mrs. Dwiller said.

"So good to see you, Mrs. Dwiller, how's Lauren?" James asked.

"Oh, she's still in a coma. Hey, is that the phone?" Jane summoned the phone with her wand. "What? WHAT? Oh, my, James, she's okay. KEVIN! SHE'S OKAY!"

James smiled, and inwardly he was laughing. Everyone had followed his elaborate scheme to keep Ben happy. "Wow, that's great! When is she coming home?"

"Today, and we need to get a party ready! Not you, of course, you go tell every one the good news!"

"Nonsense. Here we go," James conjured a stack of invitations. He then sent them with another wave of his wand. "Now, how can I help?"

"You don't need to."

"Yes, I do. Let me help. What do you want done?"

"Well, I need the table set, banners hung, food cooked, drinks mixed, balloons, all sorts of stuff. Can you do all tha-" She gasped as everything she had asked to be done was done. "Wow. Thank you, James."

"No problem. Everything should be perfect on the day that Lauren comes home!" James had expected Ben to visit Lauren sooner. He shrugged it off, and went to his two-way mirror with Lupin. "Remus Lupin!"

"Yes, James?" Remus said.

"What's up back home?"

"Not much, we are waiting for Snape. Apparently there was a death eater meeting earlier today, and some important news was given out. Why?"

"Actually, I asked because I was sort of bored, and wanted to know if anyone wanted me to do anything. But I guess not, so I'll see you later!" James sighed inwardly. A fact-spreading mission for the death eaters meant a day off for the order. He didn't mind if the death eaters got news that James already knew about. ? The doorbell rang.

"James, Laurel is here. Want to entertain her?" Jane asked.

"Yes, yes I do."

"Hey, James, what's up?"

"Not much, and you?"

"I saw the Davis Hellcats get smashed by the San Francisco Sharks. They had such a good seeker, and David almost got the snitch. However, the team is pretty bad without you, the Chasers were only a fraction of the prior strength. The Sharks have a great front three. They scored fifty points to our twenty. Then they just got the snitch in time. It was amazing, though." Laurel said.

"Ouch. How did the Niners do?"

"They won, it was pretty nice. The seeker is awesome. He caught the snitch after a two hundred foot dive. The Raider seeker had dived first, and was a little higher than him. The Niner's guy dropped down into the lane, and flew right into the snitch, catching it. It was so exciting!"

"Cool."

"I'll say."

Laurel and James continued their conversations. Then Lauren showed up, and they kept talking. They did this for Leila and Ariel as well as Amanda. Then Ben showed up, and Lauren ran to him, while everyone else ignored Ben. They soon reentered the subject of quidditch.

"So, James, you're back on the team?" Ariel asked.

"Yes, Captain K wanted me on the team so that we would win." James said.

"Really?" Leila looked skeptical.

"Have you never watched him play? He is so damn good; he owns every other chaser ever. Are you going to go pro?" Laurel asked.

"Yes, I am going to try to play on the American team. I want to go to the world cup." James said.

"Well, who doesn't? But do you think that you are good enough?" Ariel asked.

"Yeah, maybe, it depends more on the rest of the team. If we have an excellent seeker, I think that we will manage to go to the cup, but if not…" James said.

"Well, okay, but are you a world-class chaser?" Amanda asked.

"Very close, according to the scouting reports on me. The scouts make me sound like a great player. They want me on their team direct from the academy. They were willing to pay me a lot of money, too. They think that I am some superstar, but I need a support team like everyone else. I probably won't give myself to the draft, but I will probably show up at someone's training camp and ask to play." James said.

"Yeah, like anyone would take you." Ben said.

"Shove it, Ben, or I will kill you this time." James said, taking his wand out.

"Please don't." Was all Lauren said.

"Fine, but make him shut up. Just to emphasize my point, Boilus!" Ben gave a shout as the hex hit him on the face.

"JAMES!" Lauren yelled.

"What? He was insulting me, and using you as a shield. He deserved it." James said. "Either way, I will bring my wand against you, so what are you doing?"

"Just leave Ben alone! If you didn't hex him all the time, he would be a friend to you." Lauren said.

"If James didn't hex him first, James would be hexed left and right. Do you ignore all the hatred between James and your boyfriend? Damn." Ariel said.

"You shut up." Lauren quipped.

"Make her." James said.

"SILENCIO!" The spell hit Ariel, who couldn't speak.

"Nice charm, Lauren!" James said, and then muttered "Finite Incantatem" to end the spell.

So this sort of conversation continued without the participation of Ben and it continued until midnight, when James said that he needed to sleep so that he could play well tomorrow. He got to his personal home, the one he inherited from his family, and was taken aback by the silence. He no longer had Zoe, and he missed her very much. He sent a letter to Lavender, and checked his message machine, nothing. Suddenly Artemis flew in.

"Hey, Arti! What's up?" He asked the owl, who hooted upon hearing his nickname. "Hm, for me? That's odd, wouldn't she have told me there?" He ripped open the note.

James,

I didn't want to tell you in front of Ben, but Nicole's coming up tomorrow. Apparently she got an invitation from you? I don't know where she is going to stay, but I guess that your house has some extra rooms. I don't really want Nicole over here because of Ben. See you Later!

Lauren

He wrote a reply.

Lauren,

Okay, yes, she can stay here. Love her and you, see you both at the game! Bye!

James

James went to sleep and had a dream. The dream consisted of Harry and Ron on the knight bus, and Ron was having a horrible time. The bus almost crashed about three times, and the jumps were even worse for the wizards and witches on board. There was a girl with them, Tonks, and she seemed to be mad about something. Stan the conductor was talking to Harry when the bus crashed, and James woke up.

James got dressed, and walked to the door. He summoned his Phoenix, and apparated to the pitch. When he got to the pitch, he walked to the locker rooms while looking at the pitch and the conditions. The conditions were not bad, they could have been better, but the sun was covered by clouds. There was very little chance of rain, and the field was muddy. All in all, it was a typical winter day in the Central Valley. He got into the locker rooms. Everyone had changed, and he changed really quickly. Liesel smiled at him, and began the pep talks.

"Okay, we are not favored. We are the underdog by a hundred points. I guess they didn't get the memo; James is back on the team!" Liesel waited for the appreciative noises to die down. "Anyway, Sacramento still has a very strong team. Their beaters are superb, and their seeker is the best. We need to dominate them on the quaffle, which happens to be their weak point. Their chasers are not too good, and their keeper is a joke when compared to Adam's scoring ability. We have a good chance of wining, so let's get out there and play our best!" The huddle broke.

"And here we have a great Quidditch match, the league leading Sacramento Wasps against the oddly finished Davis Hellcats! The Wasps have won every game so far this season, and their wins have been impressive indeed. The Hellcats, on the other hand, have had a large decrease in productivity since the loss of their lead chaser, James McCadell, who is on the scouting reports, even though he has at least two and a half years left of school. So, who knows, could the Hellcats pull off a victory? Well, the addition of James back into their line up is a very, very good thing for them. We are not going to be seeing a long match, folks, no; this will be short, because of the seekers on both ends. The question remains; however, will the snitch show itself early on or late in the game? Who knows, and who can tell? Well, the game is about to start, and WHOA, JAMES ALREADY HAS THE QUAFFLE! That's an embarrassing defeat of the Wasps: James gets the quaffle. He passes the quaffle up to Prack, who takes the quaffle in, and, shoots, no PASSES TO JAMES WHO BEATS THE KEEPER FOR THE SCORE! And, I don't believe it, Adam Prack with the quaffle, passes to James, who BEATS THE KEEPER AGAIN! 20-0 Hellcats, as Prack gets the quaffle **again** and passes to James, who beats the keeper. This is a run, folks. One-thirty into the game, and James already has three goals, and Prack has his three assists. What a play. Okay, the Wasps have the quaffle, finally, and here it comes. Pucer beats Montgumry, Prack, and STOLEN BY JAMES! James is heading up, Prack behind the posts again, James gets into position, and SCORES! Prack has the quaffle, and James SCORES AGAIN! This is nuts, because James gets his third and fourth goals in the run. 70-0 Hellcats. This is nuts. The keeper comes on offense, and James scores again, and again. And, WOW, THAT'S A FOUL! With the score at 90-0, the Wasps keeper fouls James, who puts the quaffle away. That was a flagrant foul, so James gets the quaffle. That was dumb, because James scores again. Now that the foul trouble is over, James gets the quaffle again, sets up the shot, and SCORES! There is a time out called by Sacramento. Excuse me while I get a drink of water." The announcer said.

"Holy shit, that guy's killing us. Why haven't you caught the snitch yet?"

"I can't see through David Rembertson."

"So knock him off his broom, genius!"

"That would be a foul, and James would get another shot!"

"Let's just focus on the beaters. Why aren't the bludgers after James?"

"The opponent's beaters are awesome. They are getting between us and the bludgers and hitting the bludgers to our seeker. How are we going to win?"

"We can't. Let's just pray that they get the snitch soon."

"And play resumes, with the Wasps in control of the quaffle. Whoa! David Rembertson dives; he's seen the snitch folks! He and Marcus Dorila from the Wasps are diving, diving, diving, and DAVID PULLS UP! THIS IS A FEINT! OUCH!" James watched the opposing seeker slam into the ground, his broom sticking. "There is a medical time-out, folks, a stuck broom is very dangerous because it could stifle the breath of the rider. Ah, he's okay, well they're off! There they go, James in the lead with the Quaffle again, and I don't believe it, James scores again, with the Keeper only half way to the goal, and Prack gets it, and James scores again, and again, and again, and again. The score is 150-0, and James scores one last time. 160-0. That is a hell of a score, my friends. Now James is seeking, and they drop to two chasers and a keeper on defense. WAIT, JAMES HAS GRABBED THE QUAFFLE, AND HE IS CHARGING DOWN THE PITCH, AND HE SCORES! 170-0 HELLCATS! WHERE THE HELL DID HE COME FROM? And, James dives, and he, he dodges a bludger, pulls around, comes up, quaffle stolen by Prack, James grabs over his shoulder, probably a bug, no. NO! JAMES CAUGHT THE SNITCH! JAMES SCORES 320 OF 320 POINTS FOR THE HELLCATS! THE HELLCATS STOMP THE WASPS, 320-0! WHAT A SHUT OUT! Wow."

"NICE! WOOHOO! WE WON!" was the cheer around the stadium.

The upset victory was sweeter when James led the team in a victory lap around the arena, and instead of following him; they landed, signifying him as the victor. As James continued his victory lap, Lauren and Nicole cheered harder than anyone else, while Ben sat with a frown on his face. James assumed that it was their mutual hatred that kept him from cheering. All James was thinking of was how the hell Ben thought that James was competing for Lauren.

Lavender was enough, he didn't need Lauren to have his ego secure. That Ben thought that a girlfriend was an ego assurance ticket was stupid, but he didn't expect less from Ben. Oh well, he knew the truth, and so did Lauren. What did he care if some moron didn't think straight? He did. If Ben thought that he had competition, so be it. But if Ben thought that that competition needed to be removed, Voldemort would be happy to do such a thing, and Ben had enough information to take care of James for good. Well, he would just have to be more careful. He would also have to protect Lavender, because he could never forgive himself if something happened to her.

Later that week, James, who was tired of the incessant partying, decided to go to a movie with Laurel, Lauren, and Nicole. All three walked downtown, and were heading to the movie theatre when James saw something.

"Guys, come with me. Now." James said, turning around and heading down an alley.

"What is it?" Nicole asked.

"I saw someone following us. Let's go get him."

"But, what if he over powers us?"

"Nicole, that will not happen with James here. Don't worry." Lauren said.

"But what about what happened to you?" Nicole pointed out.

"James wasn't there, and anyway, we think that a traitor hit her from behind. Are you planning to be a traitor?" Laurel asked.

"No, but, oh well." She walked with them.

"Okay, we need to pull our wands in the discreet fashion. Remember how to do it?" James asked.

"Yes." Everyone but Nicole had their wands out, and Nicole had her hands in her pockets, one of them was a fist.

"All right, we're closing in. Fan out, and pick your buddy. Lauren, Nicole, both of you with me. Okay, let's go." They ran down the alley, and saw a hooded figure about to go into a warehouse.

"Stupefy!" Lauren shouted, and the spell flew and hit the guy, who fell down. "J.J.?"

"What the hell is JJ doing in the alley? And why does he have a cloak on? This makes no sense. Enneverate." Laurel said.

"Jacob Privo, what the hell are you doing in this alley, and why are you following us?" James asked in a commanding voice.

"I, I don't know, I've," JJ disapperated with a crack.

"Okay, back to the movie. Nice spell, Lauren. That was very accurate and fast." James said. "And your de-stun spell is very nice, Laurel."

"Thanks." Lauren and Laurel said.

They watched the movie, eating many snacks that they conjured up ("hey, we didn't bring any food in!") and enjoying each other's sense of humor, making some pretty decent jokes during the movie, ("Hey, your pants look dirty. Maybe you should take them off!") while enjoying everything about the winter. The next day was Christmas Eve, and James was gong to spend it with his 'family' up in Placerville. James loved Christmas, because he got to see all of his family, but he didn't really enjoy going to the bay area for Christmas dinner. He would much rather go home and spend the night with his friends. That is what Christmas was about, love, and he loved his friends dearly.

When it was time to go, James and Lauren got a ride home together, while everyone else apparated, James needed to talk to Lauren a little.

"Lauren, I am kind of suspecting that Ben's friends may be involved in the dark arts, and that Ben's friends might be the ones that had captured you." James said.

"Why are you telling me this?" Lauren asked. "I will not break up with Ben because of what he and his friends do."

"Even if he kills your family and friends, and everybody you even remotely like, and tortures you for eternity?" James asked.

"Yes."

"Well, in my opinion that is very much a mistake. I know that Lavender is the one, and that if we continue together for much longer, I will ask her to marry me at the end of this year. We trust each other, and love each other, and we often agree with each other. There is nothing not to like about her, and she says that there is nothing not to like about me. However, if I found out that she was a death eater, I would have to subdue her and bring her in, because she lied to me, and was plotting my destruction, toying with me, and she didn't really love me, and because she is my enemy regardless of how much she loves me. This is a solid fact, and no amount of wishful thinking can move solid fact away. Ignoring signs can get you killed; it almost lost me my best friend ever. Remember that."

"I agree, but I don't agree. I would still love Ben even if he turned out to be Voldemort, and I would still want to be with him, and I would like to be with him, and I will be with him. Facts are changeable, and not really useful to anyone but lawyers, and I am not a lawyer."

"But the facts can end your life if you are not careful."

"There is no place I would rather die than in Ben's arms."

"Even if Ben killed you."

"Even if Ben killed me."

"And what if Ben killed your mom, Kevin, and Wade? And he then proceeded to kill me? And then you? How would you feel then?"

"Betrayed, lost, hurt, and I would welcome the death. I would also welcome Ben as the bringer of that death."

"Well, I guess we are at opposite sides of the issue. All I can say is that I am going on the gut instinct that I have, and guess what. Those have never failed be yet. Don't give up that I might be wrong, but don't hold onto a dog that will bite you, either. If it turns out that Ben is a death eater, you would have to choose between him and your memory, your friends, and your family. Remember that." James got off the bus and walked to a safe apparation location, and apparated all the way back to his home.

"I will remember. And I understand." It started to rain, as if the clouds felt the sorrow that Lauren was carrying. As if they knew that Lauren couldn't possibly choose between the options laid out for her. As if they knew that Lauren was not ready for the decision that would guide her actions for the rest of her life. As if, as if they were at the command of someone more powerful than she.

AN: Did you like this chapter? Read and Review. Did you hate this chapter? Read and Review. Do you wish you had an unlimited supply of tomatoes, either for eating or throwing at a bad singer? Read and Review. Do you have earwax, toejam, or boogers? Read and Review. Are you sitting at your computer like a nerd and reading some second-rate fanfics? Read this first-rate fic instead, and review. Do you wish I would end this damn authors' note? Read and review.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 10: The Snow Day

"Wow, this is a view!" Nicole said, as they rode up the lift.

"It is nice, isn't it? It also seems like a nice day." James turned and smiled at the fifteen year old beauty next to him.

"I agree, but we are starting to sound stupid. So, how was your first term of school?" Nicole asked.

"Actually, I learned nothing at that school. Are you taking your HILL's yet?" James asked.

"No, I don't have your brain. I wish I did though, I might be able to do something about they jackass guys in my Transfig class." Nicole said.

"Hell, you don't need a brain for that, I managed to teach HARRY POTTER something, for god's sake. If there was ever an imbecile, it's him. Now, when we get home, we are going to teach you the boil hex. It will put an extremely painful boil on the body part of your choice. Now, imagine it on someone's balls." James said, and Nicole winced. "Yup. Now, no one has ever managed to get me, but I have hexed numerous people in my time. If Harry can do it, you can too."

"Really? Well, it is time to get off. Let's go!" Nicole got off, and they headed to the map and hooked up with Lauren, Ben, and Laurel. "Hey guys!"

"Hey, Nicole! What's up?" Ben asked.

"Ugh. Anyway, let's go down this one." Nicole said.

"No, I want to warm up first. How about this one?" James said.

"Nah, this one is supposed to be amazing." Ben pointed to a double black diamond.

Well, that's out of character for Ben, wanting to go on the most difficult run here? Strange, James thought. "Fine."

They skied over to the run entrance, and began to go down. About ten yards down the hill, Lauren fell. Ben helped her up and they continued down. As they continued down the hill, James noted five others start down the hill. It was very unusual for people to go down runs in cloaks…

"STUPEFY!" A jet of red light flew from one of the cloaked riders, and the rest began to fire spells as well.

"Quickley, Lauren, lead the rest to safety. Ben, you want to prove yourself? Come with me." James shouted, turning into the trees. "Lauren, I will do my best to keep him alive. That is a promise. Now hurry up! They aren't coming down for tea!" James tore off, with Ben a little behind him.

"What the hell is going on, James?" Ben said.

"I'll tell you what's going on, JJ is a death eater, and the death eaters have been after me for a while. How they knew that we were going skiing, I think I will never know." James made a sharp turn, narrowly avoiding a tree. "I don't have time for this."

"REDUCTO!" A death eater shouted, and James' pole blew up. James tossed the other aside.

"Stupefy!" Ben shouted, and James looked back to see the death eater narrowly dodge the spell. James looked back just in time to dodge another tree. "REDUCTO!" James threw this spell wildly behind him. James started concentrating on his skiing.

It was a lot like James Bond, as James was skiing down a mountain, out gunned and out numbered, with an ally he was not sure he could trust, let alone count on. James turned left, just as the tree in front of him exploded. James then turned back, and went backwards for five inches, before managing another 180, and dodging another tree. He made it to the open spaces, and saw the frozen pond in front of him. As the spells hit all around him, he caught a glimpse of Lauren and Laurel on the opposite side of the pond, in an ambush position. James turned towards the lake. However, the reductor curses were blowing holes in the ice, had the death eaters seen Lauren and Laurel?

They probably hadn't but James now had to go around the lake the long way, and that would look suspicious. So James came up with a solution. He looked at the lake and realized that he could probably leap over it if he picked a spot on the ice that was solid enough to handle a banishing charm. He scanned the lake, and found one spot left. He committed to the spot, meaning that he now had no option other than to go across the lake. He continued towards the lake at a very high speed, with random curses almost hitting him in every direction. He saw Ben try to fake a turn on the lake and move around the outer edge, but some death eater almost hit him in the back, and blew his skis up.

"BEN!" James shouted, shocking himself with how much he just wanted Ben to be okay. He could see Laurel covering Lauren's mouth with the assistance of Nicole. James shot a stunner over his back.

As James continued into the stream, Lucius Malfoy saw why Ben had tried to go the long way. There were three girls in the trees. Obviously, Ben was a sympathetic person, and wanted to keep those girls from harm. Two were trying to stifle the other, so it seemed as if these muggles had seen the spells. But what the hell was James doing? If he wanted to protect the girls (if he even saw them, which he surely did) then why was he trying to jump the lake, and if he didn't see or care about the girls, why didn't he go the short way? This could fail, and he wouldn't even get that much of a lead on them. So why move across the lake? Unless… unless James saw the girls, knew who they were, and was moving the death eaters into ambush? That was to far-fetched to even imagine. Well, let's just go the short way around. Malfoy signaled the others.

James could have laughed if he wasn't under so much stress. The girls knew what they were doing, all right. They had made an illusion charm over the short way to make it look passable. Now that James was almost at the lake, James could see through the illusion charm. The girls just wanted Malfoy and the others to go that way, by setting up a 'fort' that covered two sides, but not a third. They looked forward, with their left blocked and their right seemingly wide open. But their right was covered in two ways. For starters, if anyone tried to ski onto the right side of the lake, there was no way to cross it. That was the river that fed the pond, and it was not quite frozen as thickly as the pond. Also, there were two trees with a large amount of snow on them. The girls could seal of that side if someone managed to get across. The two logs that intersected each other and an acute angle served as the base of the fort, and the logs were re-enforced with snow. The death eaters plunged across the river, and the river snapped beneath them, trapping them in the water. James got to the lake, landed on the ice, and banished his way across the lake.

"JAMES! Are you okay? Where's Ben?" Lauren screamed.

"Yeah, not that I care about him, but where did that guy get off to?" Nicole asked, smiling once she saw how Laurel was smiling.

"Man, James, that was one hell of a leap. You even managed to land on your feet." Laurel was wearing a huge grin.

"BEN!" James called. "Well, I thought that he fell over there, but I'm not sure now." James went over and looked. "Yup, he fell here, see the indent in the snow? There are no tracks leading away from here, so he must have apparated, either that or they must have taken him. Oh well, there's no chance of recovering him now. We just have to hope for the best."

"Well, why don't we go after him? You all went after me!" Lauren screamed.

"You're being an idiot, Lauren, when you were kidnapped, we had a good idea of where you were, how the security was, and had the help of the best wizard in the country. To find Ben, we would require a miracle to hit the same time zone, let alone continent. Even if we did find him, he's surrounded by death eaters and Voldemort himself, who won't just let us walk in and get Ben. He'll try to kill us, and we'd be lucky if he didn't succeed." James said.

"Well, we were lucky once, right?" Lauren yelled.

"Okay, didn't want to do this, but you're gonna cause an avalanche. Quitous. Okay, we were lucky once, or rather, Ben was lucky once. We can not and should not press our luck. Once is enough. Either Ben got away or we are in trouble. We are not going after him." James said.

"Yes, I know. But I feel terrible." Lauren said, her voice greatly reduced by James' spell.

A few weeks later, James went back to catch the portkey to London, where he would Apparate to Hogsmead. He looked around, and saw the Ariel Noone memorial, James' best friend, and James' second reason that he hated Voldemort. James felt the tugging sensation, and looked up. He was in London. He then Apparated to Hogsmead, where he flew into Hogwarts by broom.

"James! Oh, damn, it's so damn good to see you!" Robert ran down the steps. "It's been hell up her, with that bitch, and all her shit left and right. I thought we were fuckin dead without you." Robert seemed happy. He slapped James on the back.

"Okay, stop swearing, it makes you sound stupid." James said. At this point, Lavender and Parvati came out. "Can it be, the love of my life?" James grabbed Lavender into one hell of a hug, and they kissed until even Parvati felt awkward.

"I had a great rest of vacation. Hey, listen, I've been here for a few hours, and I had time to check the board. There's a Hogsmead trip on Valentine's day. Wanna do something?"

"Duh!" James laughed, and carried her into the castle.

"Locomotor Trunk" Robert said, hoisting James' trunk up, and smiling at Parvati. Their secret could wait another few hours.

They got up to the common room, and Robert left them, and Parvati did as well. Parvati had hen coup duty, and Robert wanted to escort her to the room. James and Lavender heaved his trunk into the dorm room, only because Lavender said she needed the exercise. She didn't reveal the real reason, which was because she wanted to look into his eyes. They sat on James' bed and looked at each other for five minutes.

"Hey, I'm glad you're back." Lavender said.

"So am I, so am I." James said. James was amused by how cold it was in the room, and drew Lavender closer. Lavender smiled, and moved even closer.

"Remedeal Potions! That's the best excuse Snape could come up with?" Lavender jumped up. What the hell are you doing here, Lavender?" Ron asked.

"Oh, I was just helping James with his trunk." Lavender turned as red as a rose.

"Right. Hey, James, did you here?" Ron turned to James. "Harry has…" Ron was cut off by Harry, who said "Remedial Potions!"

"Harry, I know you aren't that thick, you know that I have access to all of the Order's information." Lavender had left, and James looked at Harry. "I know that you have occlumency, and I must say that I think that it's a great idea. Mental defenses are often the most important part of protecting yourself. I always said that if you didn't have the defense for one magical attack, that you would be even more susceptible to the next."

"It's with Snape!" Harry snarled.

"I don't care. I need to go down now, I have business." James left the room.

"What a little FUCKER James is!" Harry screamed.

"No, he has the right idea about all this." Hermione had entered, hearing the conversation. "Perhaps you should think about what he has on his mind right now."

"How could he have anything more important on his mind? I have the D.A., Cho, dreams, and now Occlumency! He has his _perfect_ relationship with Lavender."

"James, for your information, has a friend who was caught and tortured by Voldemort, his friend's boyfriend was taken by Death Eaters, he was attacked by Death Eaters, and he has his own version of the D.A. which requires even more time and effort than yours. He also has even more classes, and the fact that he lost his best friend, and his other friend ATTACKED him with magic that he had never seen before. You say that you have dealed with a lot, well, James has had to deal with as much in a much shorter time span. It is through an amazing number of coincidences that you have managed to escape unscathed, well, he had the same number of coincidences that he isn't dead, and his coincidences were luckier. Death Eaters come at his house just as his dog has the most energy, Death Eaters don't realize that three of his party have excellent spell abilities, Death Eaters blunder an attack, Death Eaters don't manage to corner him, Death Eaters failed an easy spell, for crying out loud, his best friend lost her mind, and again, his dog was killed, and he is thousands of miles away from home!" Hermione breathed, looking shocked at her nerve.

"That and James' relationship with Lavender is not perfect." Parvati came in. "Oh, don't worry, that's all I heard." Parvati said, looking at Harry's face.

"What do you mean, not perfect?" Harry demanded.

"Lavender is ready to marry James, but James wants to wait. Not quite perfect, but other than that, nothing they need complain about." Parvati said, looking in the mirror, adjusting her hat. "And if you'll excuse me, I have a study date."

"With whom?" Ron asked. He had been looking at her differently since the second to last D.A. meeting.

"Robert Melendino." Parvati said, smiling. "Fourth Year Slytherin."

"SLYTHERIN?" All three shouted.

"Yes, he's about the best wizard that I ever met, aside from James, and he is soo cute! He is sort of young, but very mature for his age. I, well, I could see myself with him in four years, unlike any of the other guys in school." Parvati said.

"No, not a slytherin! What about Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw? Isn't there someone else? Anyone else?" Ron said, hopefully.

"No, and don't any of you dare attack him. Not only will he defend himself against you wannabes but, he'll have me and James on his side, as well as a few others whom I will not mention." Parvati left, backwards and eyeing them as she left.

"We have some bad news from the front, ladies and gentlemen. Apparently, our attempts at securing this school from outside invasion have not gone noticed by Umbridge. She is taking steps to produce an Inquisitorial Squad, a squad designed to secure her control of our school. This squad will be made of top students, mostly Slytherin, a few others, probably no Gryffindors aside from me will be asked, and I might not be asked. You will notice that an important one amongst our number is missing. Indeed, Robert Melendino has been asked to serve on this squad. I have informed him, that although he should do as he wishes, any time that he spends in the squad will have a negative effect on us here, and that my wish is for him not to join. He promptly informed me that if it would make me feel better, he would curse Umbridge until she resembled a slug. I informed him that that would not be necessary, or indeed helpful, although it would be amusing. Your communication devises will have the latest." James addressed the crowd of twenty before him in the ampatheater.

As suspected, he got a question from Julia Copertan, a Gryffindor third year. "Are you sure that Robert will not opt to leave us? After all, he is a Slytherin."

"Being Slytherin in no way makes him inferior or superior to us in any way. He does indeed have ambition, but he also has a sense of right and wrong. He is also clever enough to cover his tracks. He is also ambitious in his desires for this group. Robert Melendino is the embodiment of Slytherin minus Parseltoungue. Only, instead of evil like Voldemort and his Death Eaters, he is good, like Dumbledore and all who support him. Only by using the powers arrayed in front of us, those from all four houses, can we survive this storm. Dumbledore is not long for this school. Inside reports, from bugs in place by Robert himself, indicate that Harry Potter will be the brunt of an attack, and that Umbridge suspects that he has an illegal defense group. As an advisor to her, I suggested that it might not be illegal, because it may not meet regularly. When she demanded how I knew, I responded that it was because I shared a dorm with Potter, and watched him to keep him under tabs for her."

"Oh. No further questions, James." Julia sat down.

She's a good kid, James thought. But she needs to keep this sort of crap outside. "Alright, that will be all." They all left for dinner.

"Hey, James, sorry about how I acted, and well, yeah." Harry said lamely, obviously apologizing on Hermione's orders.

"No problem, I would have done about the same thing." James said, and sat next to Lavender. "Did you hear? She's about to ask me."

"Damn!" Lavender said.

"I'll refuse, of course, but I'll probably stay on as advisor. Robert refused."

"Good man." Lavender smiled, looking across the table at Parvati.

"Back off, he's mine!" Parvati said, grinning.

"I've already got a man, more handsome and powerful!"

"Bullshit. He may be smarter, but he's no more powerful." The girls continued like this.

"Wait a second. Hush." James had whipped out his communicator. 'All Squad Members to the Charms corridor.'

"What the hell?" Parvati asked.

"Like I know? Your wonderful boyfriend was supposed to be doing this." James said, wolfing down his food, and sprinting away from the dinner table.

"Eh, I can always make him conjure us more food…" With that, Lavender and Parvati sprinted out after James.

"ROBERT! WHAT IN ALL OF HELL IS GOING ON!?!" James screamed into his communicator.

"Don't know, boss. I only just arrived with Daniel and Julia. Holding action under way. Will attempt to keep them from entering section thirteen. Advise that you secure retreat hall way." Robert said.

"Negative, we'll circle behind, and give these cretins something to fear." James said.

"Who's we?"

"Parvati, Lavender, and myself."

"Your willing to risk LAVENDER? STUPEFY!"

"Yes. Over and out."

Lavender and Parvati had caught up to James, and they sprinted up the hall and p another flight of stairs, hopping the trick step, and finally, there was the noise. The sounds of battle were, interestingly enough, coming from the third floor corridor that Harry had gone in his first year. When it was off limits. Now, no one who was fighting this battle knew the creature that had lived there, but there was still obvious signs of Devil's Snare, which was why James had been so keen to fortify it.

"REDUCTO!" Parvati blew the door in.

"Fie, fie, fie, STUPEFY!" The lights from James' wand were flying all over the place, and yet, not a single one missed.

After a few seconds of crazed, confused combat, the dust began to clear. Literally, the spells of everyone seemed to hit more things than were targeted. The paintings were smashed, armor suits all over the place, this was a fight. James and the others threw the Squad out, and James decided that he needed some fresh air. As James began to head out, he gave the fateful dismissal of a debrief. Little did James know how much that would hurt him in a few months.

"That was very strange. WE didn't debrief after the battle, which was very strange, seeing as James always made us debrief." Parvati was shaking.

"Yeah. Anyway, I have no clue why he didn't have us debrief, because that was indeed the weirdest battle ever." Lavender said.

Julia was shaking harder than Parvati. "What."

"Okay, we're looking for coherence." Lavender said.

"What. Why. HOW! What happened?" Julia looked like she would be sick.

"I don't follow." Parvati said.

Julia barfed.

"Evanesco!" Parvati said, waving her wand at the mess.

"I'm okay, just scared." Julia said.

"Hey, so am I, I thought for a second that James wasn't gonna come out of there unscathed." Parvati said.

"O ye of little faith." Lavender said. "But I had my doubts too, though they were about me in particular."

"Hey, we signed up for this, and James is gonna make it all right. Hey, where did he go?"

James and Robert barreled down the hall, charging into the hall to the owlery. Their goal was simple; make the sky prior to the squad, and hold the area around the Gryffindor tower. They whipped on their black hoods, black mouth covers, and cloaks. They entered the owlery.

"Accio Broom!" The broom shot out from a secret panel almost hidden to the naked eye, even more hidden by the illusion enchantment of a wall. In fact, there were two of such enchantments at the same spot, one already existed, and James made another. "Let's go!"

Robert pulled his sack off his back, and pulled out a tail gun obviously designed for brooms, as well as long chains of what seemed to be short, stubby wands. "Here." Robert clicked it into place on the back of the three-seater broom, and got on, holding the trigger.

"We're outta here!" James took off, and they charged into the cold night air.

James took the broom to an average height, and led a long circle, and noticed Harry head to the dorm room, and Ron follow a little while later. He also noted that Hermione seemed tense about something. How had Harry's first occlumancy lesson gone? He turned just in time to see them. Robert still hadn't noticed them, but James knew who they were. He dropped altitude and charged the forest.

"What the hell are you doing, James?"

"I see them, and don't use my name! We need to hide in the forest."

As they were about to enter the forest, James saw the lead look at him and it looked as if he was smiling.

"I have you now, and I will never let you go again."

She woke up, sweating. It was all for the best, she kept telling herself, that James had gone for good, and she got to see other people now. He had come back to finally tell her in person how he felt about her. He also told her about Lavender. She had no chance; she would have to find another way to win James back. James had simply run along in her life well within her reach too long, and had just left for a breather. Or for good. Picking up her wand, she looked at it.

"With this wand, I will win James back. I swear I will."

The light flashed again. What the hell is this nightmare, and why do I see it every night? "I refuse to hurt her, my lord."

"I have no use for your services if you cannot even bring him to me. I cannot win with him safe and sound at Hogwarts. Even if he is more powerful than you, you must try harder." A voice from the vicinity of the flashing light said.

"But my lord…" he was cut off by the voice.

"I do not wish for you to fail again. I will take care of him myself next time. As for you, go back to her." The voice said, while the flashing lights sped up.

"Thank you." The lights were finally steady but he saw no one.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 11: Enemy of my Enemy

"No. No, it is foolish. I don't feel like that. I will not." Liesel had been telling herself for the past hour. She realized that she was attracted to his quidditch skills, not his looks. She needed rest.

Cosy under her covers, she fell asleep.

"Watch the tail, I think we got them." James said.

"Excellent, we can head back." Robert replied.

After the minor air skirmish, there was but one broom in the air, and it sure as hell wasn't from the squad. They landed, and went to their separate dorms.

"Hey stud." Lavender came and sat on the armrest of the chair James was in. "You okay?"

"I was more concerned for you. Are you okay?" James asked.

"Why don't you give me a physical and find out?" Lavender joked.

"Only if you'll check me for hernia!" James and Lavender laughed at this.

"Well, everyone came out okay, and, well, you look shell shocked." Lavender said.

"You weren't in the sky." James pointed out, and grasped her hand. "I love you, and I will always love you. You are different than anyone else in that not only can I see myself spending my life with you, but I can see myself totally loving every second of it."

"Yeah, well, thanks." Lavender said, and, sensing that maybe she didn't reply well enough, gave him a large kiss. "Blimey, I'm tired. I'm off to bed."

"See you tomorrow." James said.

About an hour later, James started twitching his wand back and forth. He didn't realize that he was writing anything, but none-the less, here it is, James' writing.

Fires burn and guns blaze

What could drive this mad craze?

No one but she so fair,

Her with the wonderful,

Long brown hair,

Oh Capn, my capn,

Speak to me, recognize me,

Oh Capn, sweet capn,

It is I who shall set you free.

Oh Capn, great capn,

Turn to me and see,

My longing for you will not die.

"Damn, I miss her. She smiles, and well, I…" James trailed off, and flicked his wand randomly. The paper folded itself into thirds. "Maybe I just need to go to bed, and think about her tomorrow, in the morning." With that, James went to sleep.

The next morning James was not tired at all. He had gotten but five hours of sleep, and, well, it was a deep sleep. He got up, and slid down the staircase, hopping into the common room, where Lavender was excitedly talking to Parvati.

"So, anyway, it turns out that Dumbledore was right! The dementors of Azkaban did rebel!" Lavender said.

"What about the other dementors in the world?" Parvati asked.

"Who knows, maybe they hadn't heard about Voldemort yet." Lavender said, and saw James. "Hi, James!" She said, giving him a big hug.

"What's up?" James asked, and read the article. "Ah, damn. All of them? Yup." With that, and no more, James headed down for breakfast.

"Well that was strange. Why didn't James talk more? He usually has an opinion on everything." Parvati said, staring as James left the common room.

James had his breakfast in silent thought. He still remembered what he had written in his sleepy state the night before, and was thinking about Liesel Knoose rather than Lavender Brown. Why did Liesel mean more to him than Lavender? It probably had to do with things from the past. Specifics James did not know, he had attempted to block out his numerous rejections for years, and had only succeeded by sticking them in a pensieve, which was now about 11,000 miles away. And it certainly wasn't anything recent. His life with lavender these past few months far outstripped the one date he had had with Liesel, and for cheaper to. Well, sort of, but James had spent exactly 1 galleon on Lavender their first two months together, but his first date with Liesel had cost him five.

While it wasn't much of a difference in the wizard world, it was in the muggle world, where he had spent two-fifty dollars for some tickets, barring the hundred for the portkey, and another one-fifty for food. Compared to the normal cost for dates at that age, (around thirty-five each,) it was down right obscene. For that reason, he did not allow Liesel to see the ticket price (they had seen the Lion King theatrical production in San Francisco,) the transportation price, or the dinner price. In fact, the only cost that Liesel had known existed was the thirty dollars James had spent on the snacks, and even that was dropped from the forty James had really paid.

Liesel had found out about the prices later, and was torn between going ballistic and wanting to make out with him; he had spent an entirely offensive amount on the date, but he obviously valued her company at a one hundred twenty-five dollar ticket. She decided to cold-shoulder him for a week, which is why James went to Hogwarts feeling unattached and was now going out with Lavender. Interesting that Lavender now really cost James about six galleons, including Liesel's reaction to James' spending on their date.

James woke from his thoughts when the owl bit his nose to get his attention. Everyone was staring at him; the owl had been screeching for about five minutes, and James had ignored it. "What the hell is this?"

James-

Meet me in Hogsmead, around the shrieking shack.

Adam Prack

James thought about the note, mentally flipped a coin, and decided to go. James then headed to class.

It was a rather unproductive week, even though Fred and George Weasley had figured out their fireworks, and were making a large amount of them, at James' bidding of course. James learned of no Squad actions, and was cut off from the outside world. He now received no letters, and sent none as well. Soon the Hogsmead trip was here, and he was ready for the trip like never before.

"Fucking Angelina, damn whore making us fuckin' practice all damn day, why the fucking hell…" Ginny was obviously upset about the practice all day, and not being allowed to go to Hogsmead.

As James exited Hogsmead, he recognized Prack's usually jolly, round face was, well, sorrowful and squarish. In short, he looked almost the exact opposite of what he usually looked like. He walked up to James, and seemed to have a package in Valentine covers and a letter in a pink envelope.

"Holy shit. What a time to come out of the closet. I prefer females." James was truly scared that a guy was about to hand him Valentine's day gifts.

"What? Oh, no, nothing like that, I have to explain. You see, we won the championship, and Capn' K misses you very much. Here, this is a picture of you two." Prack held out the picture.

As James surveyed the picture, he recognized the setting. It was taken two years ago, after the finals. Davis Varsity had just won, and James had been named offensive player of the year, and Liesel Defensive player of the year. Liesel was laughing really hard, thanks to the joke James had made about his title. That was part of the reason her smile was so big, and the reason she was laughing in the picture. Oh, god, James thought, just seeing the smile on her face made him want to kiss her, just to suck the joy out of her lips. Her smile to him was like a barrel of whiskey, and made him drunk just to look at it. James looked as their arms were around each other, as per the photographer's suggestion. James had made some lame joke about that too, and Liesel truly didn't want to have a picture of the two like this in his hands. But there were invariably two prints. James, realizing what Liesel had wanted, sent her his copy of the photo, with a note to explain how much he wanted to keep the photo because of the memory. Liesel had sent a note back thanking him for the picture.

"You remember this? Capn' K wasn't even on the primaries for voting for Defensive POY this year. She misses you, man, great talent, but no use without the star offensive player. She more than misses your skills. The locker room has much less mirth now, because no one, and I mean no one, is as good at one-liners as you. We all try, but it never seemes to fill the gap. Capn' K misses it too." Prack said, handing James the package and the letter. "Oh, and, you want to know how much you mean to her? You started calling her Capn' K, and now everyone on the team calls her that. She loves the nickname, and finds the origin of the nickname funny."

"Dude it's her fault she doesn't have me. Cold shoulder for a week. Then I leave. Thought she hated me, never wanted to see me again. I didn't know what to do. I felt available, then Parvati walks into my life, and a two week long relationship ends as we decide to be friends, and I hook up with Lavender!" James said.

"Don't lie. I saw your eyes when you saw the picture. You don't act like that when you see Lavender smile, only Capn' K." Adam said.

"You gonna be a shrink?" James asked playfully.

"Yeah." Adam said, truthfully.

"Huh." James turned back to the paper. "You nailed me on the money. No smile affects me like the Capn's, because that smile is precious. One of a kind. It contains the most happiness of any other smile, and makes me warm to see it. Even pictures of her smiling make me get butterflies. But what if it isn't real, I could ruin my life with Lavender. We want to marry each other, and we're just waiting until after school."

"Give it some thought, and go with what you believe is right. Personally, I hope you stick with Lavender, not only because you have a charmed life with her, but because I want Capn' K myself." Adam smiled, and disappereated.

"Yeah. That's it. Her fault. She shoulda talked to me." James pocketed the picture and the package, and left.

"He seemed to think you ignored him." Prack said.

"Bull! His locker NEXT to mine, must have been there every damn day, and he never tried to apologize! Must have been trying to catch his eye for a week!" Liesel ranted.

"Yeah, well, James has always been different. We've known this." Prack said.

"He better come home this summer so I can talk to him." Liesel stormed to her Magical Physics class.

Rather than watch the bullshit practice the Gryffindors were holding, James went to the common room to work on a practical magical physics project; Arcane Energies. The theory was simple: using the wand to excite matter on the most basic level, he could manipulate it, making things fly and such. That was ordinary magic, or Majik Energies He was working with the Arcane Energies, an obscure branch of magic pioneered only by a couple of Silverlode. The energy released from arcane manipulation was at least five times a powerful killing curse, and therefore three times as effective. Since the Arcane Energies were so powerful, it was very difficult to produce them, at least in theory. The form consists of casting several target-sensative, non-destructive (Only affects un-hampered object, no destruction of object) into a ball of several clearly different metals in wire form. The difficulty lied in getting the timing down perfectly, and that was why it was theoretically difficult.

In practice; however, it was nearly impossible. First off, he had to create a containment field, secondly, he had to decide on the spells. Then he had to calculate the exact required energies, and then had to cast spells at the exact energy levels. As if that was not hard enough, he had to consciously maintain every spell cast in order for it to work. Then, to make it a true Arcane Manipulation, he had to store it. He had to, while maintaining the spells (due to the timing of spell-storage devices,) create a spell storage device of magnificent proportion and use another few spells to move the energy ball to the tip of the storage device. Then, he had to dispel every single spell and conduct the spells into the storage device. Finally, he had to destroy the ball used to store the energy, cast some spells to safely seal the storage chamber, and finish the spell storage device enchantment.

"Hey, whatcha doing?"

"Get out of here now! You broke my concentration!" James shouted at the idiot first-year. "Dispellus" he said over and over. After the twenty-ith or so repetition, he jumped to the door, sprinted behind it, and slammed it shut, muttering both "Collaportus" and "Lockus."

There was a large explosion, rather like twenty thousand tons of TNT just went off in the room next to him.

AN: Does Anyone know the significance behind twenty thousand tons? Leave a review!

"Shit." James walked into the room, as both of his spells and the door had been mauled.

"What was that?" Hermione Granger had just come down to see what the commotion was.

"Just a spell gone horribly wrong. Reparo Maxima." Most of the damaged items fixed themselves. "Ah, leave the rest for the house-elves."

"How dare you. They, they, aren't SLAVES, you jackass, they are THINKING, INTELLIGENT, LOVING creatures WRONGFULLY enslaved by wizards like you, because they were LAZY! DETENTION, and I'm telling McCgonnagle. Why, not even from Ron have I ever…" She was cut short by the silencing charm put on her by James.

James looked outside to see a large crown gathered by the portrait. "Holy…" The applause came in cascades over James. The portrait had flung open due to the explosion, and as Hermione was yelling at James everyone thought that James had done it.

"Nice one." Robert beamed, and seemed to be shoving him away. "Play along, damn you." Robert whispered.

As they rounded the corner, Robert abandoned his look of appreciation. "Dude, we have somewhat of a problem. First, Educational Decree twenty… six was signed, and goes into effect tomorrow. This isn't much of a problem, but, you know…" Robert trailed off. "And another thing, apparently Umbridge is closing in on the D.A. It isn't safe for any of our members to be there anymore. And finally, Umbridge is closing her gap on what's her face, Trelawny. I think she'll be first to go."

"Okay, Decree Twenty Six, D.A. in trouble, Trelawny in trouble. Got it. Anything else?" James said.

"No." Robert turned and left.

"Oy, JAMES!" Fred shouted.

"Hey Fred, George, what's up?" James asked.

"I heard about your explosion. Nice. Arcane Energies?" George asked.

"Uh, yeah. How'd you know?" James asked.

"The 'rents think we were 'inventing' all those years with the explosions, while we were just playing with Arcane Manipulations." Fred said.

"The sound and lights are amazing! Well, I can't actually say we didn't find a use for them. We are working on some magical fireworks that use Arcane Invocations to make cool effects. But we can't figure out how to store them up. There wouldn't happen to be an enchantment we could use, would there be?" George asked.

"Mmm, yes and no. There is no Invocation enchantment, but there is a separate enchantment that can do the same thing. What is the 'firework,' the part you light on fire?" James asked. Fred produced a thin, red tube rather like a stick of dynamite. "Excellent. This enchantment will last, oh, about ninety years. But it needs to be cast at about the same time as the invocations. We'll go to H.Q. to figure it out tonight, okay?"

"Fine." Fred said.

The rest of the day went fairly well. James taught the Weasley twins the spell-storage enchantment, and Fred and George finished up their firework research. James and Lavender took a walk just prior to bed, and James did some more HILL essays. He had about three due in four days. James pulled out his OWL examination, and looked down it one last time. As he remineced about that year, he looked at the very bottom at his transfiguration grade:

"O+, recommend he take a transmutation class next year. He is strong on all points of the basic transformations and has the making of an animagus. He also knows enough of the theory and has the raw magical talent to learn advanced transmutation."

He had opted to take one fewer class, as he was already taking the second-hardest schedule possible for fourth-year Davis Acadamy students. He was taking three HILL's already, in Defensive Theory, Charm Work, and Divination. He didn't know why he took divination, he was no good at it. He thought it useless too, he was more than a match for any magical beast and almost any wizard around. Why would he need to know what was coming before-hand? He also hated Trelawny, recognizing her as a fraud. He handed in his dream diary, and she had failed him on the assignment because he took his dream of Harry, Mrs. Weasly, Fred, George, and Ginny seeing Mr. Weasly in St. Mungos' at face value. The only thing he often wondered about himself was these dreams. Often he dreamed of future events, though not all the time. He was also taking Animagus, Spellcrafting, Wand crafting, and Arcane Physics. That was out of a possible eight classes. He qualified for transmutation, the art of changing reality with a wand, and could have taken the class, but he opted to stick to seven. He would take transmutation next year; Animagus counted as a transfiguration credit and a large one at that.

After looking briefly over the suggested spell list at the bottom, he went to bed.

Liesel was panting. She had just come off one of the best training sessions yet, and could almost produce a patronus on the fly. "God, I'm tired."

"I don't blame you. You are well above the fourth-year level." Albie Kutso said. Albie Kutso was the trainer for John's group, and he was the best teacher in California, and possibly the United States.

"I know. Jeez, I am rated at number seventy-two nation-wide. I know how to fight. I just want to impress James when he comes back." Liesel said, through clenched teeth.

"James McCadell is ranked number ten WORLD WIDE! The only people above him are Albus Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort, Lord Mitalian, Tom Marvelo Riddle, James Potter, Adi Musali, John Merino, Suchila Kit, and Barty Hariday. And four of those are dead, two are missing, and James almost matches the remaining three. Do you have a world ranking? In order to play with him you need a ranking. I'm fifty-two." Albie said.

That morning was a Monday, and he hated Mondays. Monday was invented by those creeps in government and muggles, who liked to torture everyone. Why the hell would anyone make anything as sadistic as a Monday? He looked at the sword over his bed. Why the hell… he needed to write home soon. He didn't know whether he should write to his gang, Liesel, Nicole, or all three. He assumed that Liesel would want a letter home after that letter and gift she sent. It was a beautiful picture frame with, three pictures of them. All of the pictures involved some sort of quidditch theme. Their second picture, when they were awarded the 'Californiman' trophy (Liesel) and the runner-up (James.) Then there was the picture from their last championship game together, they were both flying brooms, smiling, James had then thrown the quaffle at her as a joke. The final was a simple picture as well. They had gone to a professional quidditch game on the day of their date; James had gotten tickets, and she loved the niners. They were goth in red and gold, and both wearing all sorts of 49ers regalia. Then the picture frame, a solid mahogany frame with golden snitches, obsidian bludgers, and ruby quaffles. She obviously wanted him back on the team.

"Yeah. She can fuck herself. I've got a girl and a life here, not in California." James left the dorm and nearly collided with some hufflepuff.

"Sir, I am sorry to run into you without apiligizing." The kid looked fairly stupid, but James felt nothing from him. No vibe, no telling if he was lying, in fact, he felt as if a legilimentation spell would hardly phase him.

"That's fine. What's your name?" James asked. He needed to know about this kid.

"There is no metod to such madness that an anjured soul should declire himself before his agg, aggr," He trailed off, but he was obviously very wise.

"Aggressor?" James supplied.

"Yes. That. But I will still give my name first. I am called Joseph Zalik." Joseph said.

"Hm." James knew this kid couldn't be bright, but he was wise as hell to not pick a fight with James.

"Perhams you could give your name to myself, as then I would be better equited to avoid further, c, ca, catatrimies." Joseph said.

"Yeah. You, um, need to stop trying such big words. All right, get outta here." James sent the kid the opposite direction, and hurried to the great hall to see his little spectacle evolve. When he got there, he wasn't disappointed. Umbridge looked furious.

"I think she might have discovered what you did to her plates." James heard the whisper.

"Gee, ya think?" James smiled, as he turned and saw the weasly twins.

"We were in detention last night. We saw. Bloody brilliant." They chuckled. "But we couldn't steal enough glances to figure out what they said. Wanna help us out there?"

"I am a git who would sleep with Fudge's dog if given half a chance." James said.

"I knew that, but what did the plate say?" George asked.

"Furnunculous!" James waved his wand.

"Finite." Fred said. "James is _dangerous_, George! He could hurt you!"

"Yeah, well, permanent sticking charm's next. Let's grab breakfast." James said.

"So, anyway, this girl comes up and asks umbridge if she can throw tampons in the toilet, or if they belong in the trash!" Lavender said.

"That is truly amazing." Parvati was in fits of hysterical laughter.

"Better than Malfoy, who was asking what to do with used condoms!" Robert said. "No, listen. We were all in the common room, and heard a few mysterious sounds. People around me asked if I knew what was going on, and I said 'Must be peeves. I wonder how he got in the male dorms, though.' Then, as if an answer to my question, Pansy comes out from the dorms looking disshelved, and she asks if anyone could help her and Malfoy by telling them what to do with used condoms!" The entire grffindor table smiled, as their largest rival had a spy amongst them. "Still, it was great to see Crabbe try to eat it." Now they were laughing.

"Okay, here's one. Some third year girl has the hots for Lee here, and she tells him that she 'wants help with a birth-control pill; she wants to test it.' Poor Lee, he turns to her and says, 'Okay, find a dude to sleep with.' And I said, 'I think she means you.' So the little girl is sort of uncomfortable now, and it gets really great when Lee says; 'Do you want me to have sex with you?'" Lee blushed unimagionably. "The best part was when she turned beet red and said no, and I said 'No, she wants to fuck with your semen. Duh.'"

"That's enough sex talk at the table." Hermione was now there, screaming at them. "Robert!"

"Yes, your highness." Robert said, bowing to the ground in mock respect.

"Get. To. Your. TABLE!" She hated Robert for some unknown reason, and loathed James for bringing him to the Gryffindor table every day.

"Nah. Don't go, I'm to addicted to your presence." Parvati said.

"Hey, aren't you going out with Lee? He had to turn a wild offer from a third year for you!" James said, and the other Gryffindors laughed.

"STOP IT!" Hermione indicated the third year was there not three seats down, crying.

"Oh, Hermione wants some Lee too? You only had to ask." Lee made a move towards Hermione.

Hermione said, "Detention."

"The only thing you'll detain is HIS thing!" George had to laugh at this.

"Unless you want mine!" Robert said, causing the laughing gryffindors to tear up.

"You to, Robert. Double if you don't go back to your table."

"You want on his table." James said.

"Score one for James!" Fred gave him a high five.

"Nah, just between the legs." Lee said.

"No thanks, I'm fine without her." Robert said.

"Why you little…"

"Actually, it's quite big." Robert said, clearly going to irk the already peeved prefect.

"Yet little enough that I haven't noticed it yet." Parvati said, her hand casually slipping down the front of his robes.

"NO! NO PLAYING AT THE DINNER TABLE! EVEN THOUGH IT ISN'T FOOD!" James made a mocking impression of a mother telling her kids to not bring toys to the table.

"Aw. Just some, er, harmless fun!" Parvati said.

"Eh. James is a strange bloke. Keep that hand moving." Robert said.

"Yeah, maybe you should go." James had noticed McCgonnagle approaching.

"May I ask what is going on here?" Umbridge had sneaked from behind.

"Harmless games. You never played 'Catch that cock?'" James said.

"Yeah, though it's usually played with roosters, Parvati simply misinterpreted what we were saying. She thought we meant Robert's cock, not Robert's _cock_." Fred said, and they barely maintained a straight face. Just then the owls flooded the room, more than a dozen making a beeline for Harry. "We'll be back, I think they misaddressed our forms." Fred and George left for Harry.

"Damn, those kids are FUNNY!" James said, as Umbridge left.

"Yeah, we need to make out. Hey, how big is yours?" Lavender said, hand darting down.

James jumped back. "Hey, doctor Parvati, how big is it?"

"Plenty big." Parvati sipped some juice. "About the size of Ginny's rack."

"Thanks, o kind one. Any other kind things you want to say to me?"

"Hm. I don't know, I may have to get someone else with a bigger door knob." Lavender said, still chuckling about the rack comment.

"What, oh what, do I see in you bitches. One insults me, and the other claims she'll leave me for some sex. Damn, have I got taste or what?" James said.

"Dude, I flirted with you in front of your girlfriend, and look were it got me." Parvati said.

"Try again, she wasn't looking." James wore a sly smile, which was swiftly killed with a blow from Parvati.

"How. Dare. You." Parvati looked angry. Then she laughed at the tension.

"Hey, I don't mind you two flirting, at least I know where it resides if not in me." Lavender smiled as the two poured their drinks on her.

After James witnessed Cho apologize to Harry the next day, he followed her, signaling Lavender and Parvati to follow and watch closely. "Oh, Cho! CHO!" James wore a face of mock sympathy.

"What?" Cho asked.

"You're so, BRAVE. The words you spoke had me in tears, and you are so, so, sad and depressed. Will you ever forgive me?" James said, in a voice like he was trying to seduce her.

"WHAT?!" She evidently thought no one had heard her.

"Oh, please. Give me some. Now, oh, man. LETS GET IT ON!" James shouted, and Cho broke into hysterics, sobbing and running off.

"That was mean." Parvati said.

"What a bimbo. She needed the reminder of just how dumb she really is." James said. They went up to the dormitory.

"Hey, I need a wicked make out session with you right now. You can't be that mean and not get punished." Lavender said, laying on the floor in the upper tower of the Gryffindor house.

A/N: Thank you, Oy Angelina, for coming up with the attic. I will certainly give it a few breaths of air.

"Why are you on the floor with the furniture up here? Do you want no one to bother us?" James asked.

"That would be nice." Lavender said, sneaking a glance at Parvati.

"Hey, there's nuthin I ain't seen yet. By all means, go ahead as long as I can be part of a conversation." Parvati laughed.

"Collaportus." James muttered, locking the door. He then looked at the moveable wall, and pulled out a broom.

"Hey, you're supposed to be riding ME, not some lousy broom!" Lavender protested.

"Yeah, well, let's see who can strip fastest." Parvati said, in a competitive sort of way.

"All right, let's do it." Lavender responded.

"She'll win, she's had more practice than you can imagine." James said.

"Are you calling me a tramp?" Parvati asked.

"No, well, yes." James said, and raised the broom to protect himself as both Lavender and Parvati attempted to tackle him. James felt like he was totally alive, in a room with his second-best friend in England, and his Girlfriend, and it seemed like they were both after something he had that they didn't.

"Give me that." Parvati seized the broom.

"Where's Lavender?" James asked, and suddenly she poked her head from inside his robes.

"Parvati, you liar. This thing is huge!" James felt her hands.

"HEY! THAT'S PRIVATE!" James shouted, fighting to get Lavenders hands out of his pants. Well, the picture was like this; a boy and a girl were inside one set of robes, and both sets of hands were down the robes, obviously grasping at something. Also, they were rolling around on the floor.

"James, you know as well as I that it isn't private, and in fact is public property." Parvati thought the whole thing amusing, watching the two fight in one set of robes.

"Hey, Parvati, how many have glimpsed your breasts?" James challenged.

"Oh, don't make me get in there too!" Parvati laughed.

"Okay, we'll narrow it down from everyone. Who all's touched them?" James asked.

"That's it McCadell, you're going down." Parvati jumped in the fray, and ripped James' robe off to reveal James and Lavender thumb warring to give the impression of lusty moments. James disengaged his hands to rip Parvati's robes off, and she screamed, until she realized she always wore her pajamas under her robes in case of such and occasion.

"So, what are you hiding, Lavender?" James asked, and Parvati and he backed her into a corner.

"Don't you dare touch them. No! NO!" She screamed with mirth as they pinned her down and removed her robes as well. She was wearing a skirt and halter top. James conjured a deck of cards with a wave of his wand.

"All right, get your clothes back on. We're gonna play my favorite game." James said.

"What's that?" Parvati asked.

"Dare Poker! We make dares, or offer articles of clothes, and play poker. Here are the rules: There are certain classifications of dares, the embarrising, the naughty, the crazy, and the truly humiliating. The other two get to vote on the classification of the dare. The classification is the average of the votes. Any article of clothing is worth two humiliating dares. All right, I've conjured up about ten more layers of clothing for us all. Let the game, Texas Holdem, begin!"

They played poker, well into the night. Nearly drunk with mirth, they continued to act like the foolish children they were.

Heh. Steamy.

Okay.

Humor me and Review; Thanks, I'd do the same for you. Psycopath.02.

The Review/death haiku.

Please Review.

Or I will Kill you.

Thank you much.

So, anyone want a plot? Review. Anyone want to guess what happens? Review.

Want to read the next chapter? Review. Want to burn me for crimes against humanity? Review. Want to never come back to my fic again? Review. Want my character's baby? Wow. You're strange, but we still accept your reviews. Company policie. So says the voices in my head. And they haven't lied to me yet.


	11. Chapter 11

The theme song for this story is "The Whistler," by Ian Anderson, the only songwriter who rivals

FRANK ZAPPA THE GREAT!

FZ rules. Go listen to "My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama," and "Joe's Garage." You'll love them. Then listen to more FZ. Then enjoy life, you now belong to a cultured group.

Chapter Twelve: Where's Purple?

"Well, where were you three last night?" Seamus Finnigan asked James, Lavender, and Parvati.

Since James was smiling and Lavender was overcome with giggles, Parvati responded. "It is perfectly acceptable for a boyfriend and girlfriend to play 'truth or dare,' so long as there is some supervision." Now James was cackling. "Shut UP!"

"What's up?" Dean asked.

"Not much. These crack-heads were doing something last night, but won't tell me." Seamus said.

"A, _supervised_, which is a stretch and you know it, game of 'Truth or Dare,' competing against my girlfriend." James said, and this time Lavender was clutching her sides. "Hey, it isn't that funny, okay, Parvati as a supervisor is."

Parvati glared at them. "And some poker."

"Ah. Strip poker." Dean and Seamus exchanged glances.

"No shit! You think Lavender, ouch." James got a hit from Lavender and jumped out of her range. "You think we're gonna sit in an attic with her clothes on? Hee hee hee." Now James was getting chased around the room by his girlfriend, while Parvati stared on with a glint in her eye.

"Yeah. Well. I lost." Parvati said, smiling.

"Ya know, I'll ignore the remainder of your dares if I get some help here!" James was caught, and Lavender was on top of him.

"Forget it, leo. You got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out." Parvati said.

"Urgh. Little help, Parvati?" Lavender asked.

"Sure." Parvati jumped on the pile, when James changed to a leopard, and lifted them up.

"Heh. Nice kitty."

"Well, I must be going now, pressing appointment. You'll understand, of course." Seamus flashed James a grin. "Do try to let them live."

"Just so the Prefect doesn't associate me with you three, I'll leave too." Dean followed Seamus.

"What about the prefect, Dean?" Hermione came down.

"Oh. Shit." Dean said. "Nothing."

"Nothing." She had seen the girls crawling all over the leopard in the corner. "As fascinating as bestiality must be, I feel obliged to request you not practice it in the common room."

Dean was having heaves of laughter at this comment. He only turned away after getting a look to maul from James.

"Well, if we want to sleep with animals it's better than whatever you could get." Parvati said.

"Better no one than every warm body around Hogwarts." Hermione shot back.

"At least she has real friends, not prats who stare at your chest and want to sleep with you, and masturbate at night moaning your name." Dean said.

"You stay out of it." Hermione thought, who was this person she was told of. Harry or Ron?

"Well, I know of others who do no more than moan for someone." Lavender said.

"Tell and I will make your life a living hell." Hermione flashed a malevolent eye.

"Make her life a living hell and you won't call life heaven yourself." James said, pulling out his wand.

"Detention for all of you." Hermione said.

"Hey. I have an idea, let's report her _and_ spread the moan of Hermione around. And let's see her give us detention for that without raising eyebrows." James said.

"Why, you, little. I'll ruin you." Hermione said.

"How? Write a letter to Capn' K? Tell my friends at this school that I sleep around? Tell anyone else untrue rumors? I command more fear in this school than Malfoy gets from first years. They understand me: don't speak what I don't want spoken." James laughed.

"Yeah, we'll see who has more power, male or female." Hermione said.

"Or three males and two females. If we're in competition." James said. "Make that four males. I'm sure Robert wouldn't mind testifying against him. Whatever has he done to you?"

"He's a Slytherin." Hermione said.

"And we're Gryffindors. Oh, yeah, we can't have friends outside of our house. I hate Slytherin as much as the next person, but Robert is cool." Dean said.

"And Harry's dating a Ravenclaw." Lavender pointed out.

"An ugly one, at that!" Parvati said, laughing.

"Not to brainy, remember yesterday?" James asked. Now all three laughed.

"But Slytherin was evil." Hermione said.

"Bullshit. He wanted power. He had ambition. Nothing wrong with that. Melendino has more brains than your average Ravenclaw, bravery greater than you, and is noble and true. He is a fairly hard worker as well. In essence, he is more of a wizard than you will ever be." James said, and left the portrait, followed by Dean and Parvati, and finally Lavender. Hermione didn't leave, she went to her room to cry.

"That was fun. Hey, Robert! How are you?" Robert had walked up to them.

"Hey, folks. Parvati, my hand's cold. You know what that means?" Robert asked.

"Time to put it down your pants?" Parvati turned and snogged James, getting a harsh look from James and Robert, and a playful slap in the face from Lavender.

"He's mine!" Lavender said, in mock protest. James and Robert could hold their pose no longer, and all five laughed.

"Yeah, here I am." Parvati took Robert's hand. "Wow. Your hands are cold, maybe I should lip lock with James again." Robert laughed.

"No. I'll sue you! I swear it!" James then turned to Lavender and said, "You, however, have free reign on this face."

"Fine." She slapped it.

"Oh." James hung his face in mock pain/shock. "Well, in that case, I need something fo fix it." He kissed Lavender.

"Ooh, you can still see Lavender's hand mark!" Dean said.

"What'd I miss?" Seamus came up.

"Nothing, we're just headed for breakfast. Care to join?" Dean asked.

"Sure!"

"Hey, Robert's got Parvati, I've got Lavender, and Dean's got Seamus!" James said, amidst laughter from everyone but Dean and Seamus. "Hey, what's it like to kiss a guy, Lavender?"

"Why don't you find out? Seamus, would you do me a huge favor?" Lavender joked.

"NO! NO NO NO NO!" Seamus screamed and jumped backwards as James approached him with puckered lips. They all laughed.

"What's it like to kiss a girl?" Lavender asked James.

"Well, now it's Deans turn to do ME a favor." Everyone laughed. "But seriously, Seamus, you might want to find out as well." This elected a playful punch James dodged, and laughter.

"Well, time for breakfast!" James sat down, and so did everyone else, except Lavender. James saw Malfoy whisk her down the hall into the entry hall. "Holy hell, Malfoy abducted Lavender!" James drew his wands, and the others followed suit, and they tore down the hall.

"No Running!" McCgonnagle yelled after them.

"One step and she gets it." Malfoy said with a sneer. "And I mean it." He held Lavender in a choker hold, with his wand poking in her chin, and her wand on the floor. "I have you now, James. You'll all drop your wands now." James signaled in the affirmative, and they all dropped their wands. "James, the second wand at your waist. I've seen it enough, don't deny it exists." James reluctantly dropped that wand as well. "Now, I will be leaving. Good bye!" Malfoy took off.

"DAMN!" James yelled about three minutes later.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor. I am afraid I must ask you to refrain from such language in my halls, mister McCadell. I ask that one of your stature be a little more, restrained." Umbridge said, and walked off. "And I will have to give you a detention, tomorrow. Five."

"What if I do not come?" James asked out loud.

"I will make you come." Umbridge said.

"I doubt it." James muttered.

"Well, that sums it up. James is one helluva prat. He is SUCH a jackass. He, ugh." Hermione said.

"He has a bit more intelligence than you; he doesn't go speaking ill of those more powerful than he." Ron pointed out.

"Yeah, according to him that's only nine people." Hermione said. "And four are dead and three are missing, or something like that."

"Still, he's a great wizard, far beyond us." Ron said.

"He hasn't done as much as us." Harry said.

"I disagree to that." Hermione said. "He was the guy who allowed me to make it through the Cave of Life. He also did other amazing things. Though the people who knew him didn't think he was that great. Worst wizard in his division, I was told."

"Well, there you are wrong." Ron said. "And achievements matter little. He had done as much as us, and more efficiently as well, we have almost dies way, way, way too many times. Like last year, you nearly got killed by dragons, drowning, skrewts, acromantulas, our crazed DADA teacher, and You-Know-Who. Not to mention Tom Riddle, the Basalisk, Black himself, pettigrew, Dementors twice, no, three times, werewolves, trolls, chess sets, plants, acromatulas again, I'm never forgiving you for that by the way, dobby, and about a dozen more I cannot think of right now. You are one lucky son of a bitch, and he's good."

"Well, join his fan club then." Harry said grumply.

"I have. Parvati and Lavender are cool, as well as Robert, Dean and Seamus." Ron said.

"Robert is a SLYTHERIN!" Harry yelled.

"And still cool." Ron said.

"Fine. You are entitled to your own opinion." Harry said.

"It isn't just my opinion, every person except you two love Robert, and have adopted him as a honor Gryffindor. Especially my sister. I want them to go out, because Robert's cool, but I want Ginny to go out with her greater love first." Ron smiled.

"Me?" Harry asked.

"No." Ron and Hermione said at the same time. Ron raised his eyebrow to Hermione. "Do tell, you been reading her diary as well?"

"No. She tells me these things. She is madly, and I mean MADLY, in love with James. But she avoids him, and talks to him. She likes him enough to keep her head! Strange. Oh, well, it's just a crush. I had one on him myself until I realized he was friends with a slytherin."

"James is cool, and so is Robert. Even Fred and George like them both. They think James is a riot, and Robert is his complement. Now, let's get to class." Ron said.

"Hey, James! What's up?" Fred asked.

"Nothing. Why? In trouble? Need help?" James said.

"Nah. What happened to your favorite color?" George asked.

"Malfoy."

"Oh. Shit." Fred said.

"Well get her back. Tonight." George said.

"Sure, I need time to think, though." James said.

"I understand. Go comfort Parvati. And check your dorm, a package came for you, long, thin, and it didn't come at breakfast. Here's the note." Fred handed James a note.

James-

This is my semester project; a magical sword. You can cast spells into it, and it will release the spells when you let it! The name is Mancasha, which means 'Deathblade' in Undercommon. Treat it well, and let me know how it works for you!

We miss you;

Laurel.

"Cool." James said, and he sprinted to his dorm.

As soon as he got there, he opened the package on his bed. He strapped the sheath around his waist, and instantly fell in love with the feel. It was light as a feather, yet firm as steel. He pulled it out of its sheath and another note fell out. He read this one.

Mancasha is forged from Mithril It has another magical quality, it shines a red glow when danger is near. Hope it keeps you well!

Laurel.

"Wow." James was amazed at the balance. He was a sort of swordsman, not the fencer that Daniel was, but a fighter non the less. He was often considered the best swordsman in the state, sometimes country.

He actually placed second in a nation wide tournament in his third year, about January. Adi had taught him much about his chosen weapon as well, and he was probably the best in the USA now. The blade was sharp, and light. It was also remarkably thin, and strong. He knew the properties of true mithril, it was not like Tolkien imagined it. It was even stronger, brighter, and rarer. A paper sheet of Mithril not heated in a Mithril Forger's furnace was sharper than the sharpest steel blade, and almost as strong as a three inch thick piece of steel. It also weighed almost nothing. Forged into a blade, like this, it could be twice as strong, a twentieth the weight, and a third the thickness. It also was three times as sharp as the best steel blade ever, and would last about nine times longer without a sharpen. Yet it still required a decent amount of force to cut, so just touching it wouldn't be dangerous. He was already in love with the blade, and sheathed it. He vowed to put it to use soon.

"James?" Parvati asked, poking her head into the room. "James, do you have a plan to get Lavender back?"

"Yes. Yes I do." James had no such plan, since this was a story. "But I cannot tell you the plan, I'll let you know what you need to do when you get there."

"James, thanks. Thank you for going out with me those long months ago. Thank you for staying with me as a friend afterwards. Thank you for being so cool. And, finally, thank you for getting Lavender back." Parvati was crying, and James took her in his arms.

"Don't count your dragons before they hatch. But I am confident we'll destroy Malfoy, whatever his ploy is." He felt how soft she was in his hands, and he had almost forgotten why he had loved her so long ago. She felt soft, yet firm. Weak yet hard, in an effort (not entirely failed) to gain whatever she wanted. She had the strength of most people he had met, and she seemed like she needed James more than ever now. He was there for her.

"I, I still love you. But Lavender loves you more, and you love her more." Parvati said.

"You still love me." He wasn't judging or questioning, he was just re-stating the fact.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you stay with me?" James sat her down on his bed.

"I don't know. I think because I wanted to be in the same boat as Lavender. But I don't blame her for getting together with you, she always fancied you. She still does, but now she loves you as well. I let you go. Don't look back, it would be too painful." Parvati said. "Never question your decisions, and never, ever, pretend something isn't true. Always follow your convictions, and don't question what you believe because someone disagrees. All of this advice was given to me by you, and it was all true. And now, not following your advice, I find my best friend going out with the man I wanted all along." Parvati now had tears going down her cheek. "And I feel as if it is my fault, and if we were together she wouldn't be taken. And what's worse, I don't feel as bad as should, because with her gone I could go out with her boyfriend."

"Think. No, just think. How do you feel? How do you think that I feel about this? Do you actually believe that I feel remarkably good about this? Because I don't. You are telling me about how you cannot feel sad about the loss of your best friend, my girlfriend, because you want me still. I want Lavender back. I miss her. With her gone, I cannot feel happy. We get her tonight." James said, and they left.

"All righty then, here we go. Malfoy has her in a dungeon, and she's as good as ours. Let's go!"

They sneaked around the dungeons for nearly an hour, stunning a few prefects and squad members, and finally found Lavender, whom they rescued, and set off an alarm by accident. They fought their way out of that mess, and ended back in the Gryffindor common room, including Robert.

"Oh, thank you." Lavender managed, before her self-control gave out and she hopped onto him, vice gripped him with her legs, and dragged him onto the sofa to make-out with him.

"I suppose she is to be excused for her actions." Seamus said, in an amused voice.

"Fuck off." James joked, in the seconds he had for air.

"Hey, Robert! Keep your clothes on!" Dean said, and Robert, not taking the time James did in disengaging himself, gave Dean one helluva look.

"All right, Seamus, don't get any ideas." Dean said. "I'm not that happy."

Everyone making out snorted and busted out laughing while Seamus lunged for Dean.

"Hey! Don't I get a say in this relationship? Nothing physical!" Everyone laughed harder, and Robert and James teamed up to get Seamus off of Dean.

"So. Where did we leave off?" James asked Lavender.

"Somewhere outside, I hope." That phrase reminded James of something.

"I have to go. I love you. I will be back." James left the portrait.

"Well, why the hell would he leave someone as hot as that alone on a couch?" Seamus asked, getting punched by both Robert and Dean.

"Well, hey, it's getting late. Can I stay in the Gryffindor tower?" Robert asked.

"Sure, up the stairs, all the way. Open the last door, there's a couch you can stay on." Parvati suggested.

"I meant with you." Robert said.

"Um. No." Parvati blushed. "As great as your offer is, I have to turn it down, there are other girls in my room and they might object to your presence."

"Fine. See you all tomorrow." Everyone went to bed.

Except James, who was prowling the grounds.

I hate this one. I really do. Why did I write about Malfoy abducting someone? And the next chapter was written to piss a friend off. And doesn't make any sense anymore.

Humor me and review. I'd do the same for you. Psycopath.02

Want that hot girl at school to ask you out? We at psycopath developers will put in one helluva word for you if you review.

Just in case you ask… "Psycopath" as in "psycopath.02" and "psycopath developers," they are both spelled correctly. I know, there's supposedly a second H. Well, not in these names. I knew how to spell psychopath, I just decided it would be cool for it to be psycopath. That way it looks more like a psycho wrote it.

Sorry it was so short.


	12. Chapter 14

Okay, loyal peons. None of you actually like this story so we'll make this one short.

Chapter 13: Mancasha

He hugged the corner, his foe coming.

Malfoy was humming to himself. Proud of his accomplishment was an understatement, he had brought the squad's only foe to its knees, and gotten away with his neck too. And he was still prefect! Life was good. Yet still…

His thought was cut off by his head getting pulled back by the hair and a dark, growling voice hissing as a sword was pressed against his throat. "This is Mancasha, and she who wrought it would love for the steel to caress your neck."

Malfoy only gulped.

"And if you ever threaten the safety of anyone like that again, I will relieve your shoulders of an overly swollen head and hang your body in the entry hall as a warning to others." James drew the blade slowly across Malfoy's neck, drawing a thin line of blood from the neck. "And if you ever bother her again, I will force-feed you your limbs and torture any you love before your eyes. Then I will leave you watching recordings of the death of your loved ones while you starve to death." James kicked him down the hall.

Malfoy drew his wand, but before he could do anything, there were two flashes.

The first sliced his wand into two.

The second had the flat of the blade against his cheek, with the point digging a hole through the cheek.

James said, "May these wounds forever serve as a reminder to whom your superiors are." It was a curse to never let the scar heal. The blade glowed in the dark. Kicking Malfoy one last time, he walked back to the dorms.

He still awaits his foe.

Yeah. My minions, it was short. And bitter. Not sweet by any definition of the word, but definitely short.

Humor me and review. Thanks; I'd to the same for you. Psycopath.02

Go have many a party at taxpayer's expense. You ain't payin for it.

Read Pensieve, the best FF on this site.

Then become a lackey.

Enjoy life as my personal slave, and your only job will be to read my fetid crap postings, and review them. And maybe I'll promote you to Peon. Then you actually get water. Then you can get promoted to Minion, where I actually allow food. Enjoy.

No, I am not drunk.  
I just have a speech impediment. And a stomach virus. And an inner ear infection.


	13. Chapter 15

Chapter 14: War's beginning and end.

"A centaur." James was stunned.

"Yup. A centaur. Ain't it grand? We love it all, and it's so damn obvious. Why haven't we had more centaurs as teachers?" Parvati asked.

"Are you really that ignorant? Take me to the poor creature at once!" James said. Parvati lead him to Firenze's quarters.

"Come in." A mellow voice said.

"Are you okay?" James said as soon as he walked into the room.

"I am fine under the circumstances, it is not… common for centaurs to become employees of humans." Firenze said.

"I should bloody well think not!" James said. "How on earth did you escape?"

"Escape what?" Parvati asked.

"Hagrid intervened. How did you know?…" Firenze said.

"You. Are. A. Centaur. You have been removed forcibly from your home to work with humans. I doubt the other centaurs, are, hmmm… pleased." James said.

"They are not pleased, and they extend no hospitality towards me at this point in time. Not their fault, I would say, but certainly not right. No, no, not right by any standpoint." Firenze said.

"I hope not. They would have just destroyed the centaur law with a sweep of the hand, not caring about tradition. We would have, problems, if there were no dissenters in their bid for change. Centaurs are not made for such change." James said.

"No. But some are more adept than others." Firenze said.

"Yet you cannot fully understand the futility of your actions. You were already on thin ice for your assistance of Harry Potter four years ago, then just as a straw would break a camel's back, you give it an anvil. They must view you as an evil peddler of their secrets, one to be shunned and not paraded around as a hero." James said.

"Yes. They find me rather a nuisance. I must say." Firenze looked at James. "You are an insightful fellow. Perhaps your, strengths, though they do not lie within the realms of magic, suit you more than your wands."

"Wow. Nobody's come up to me and said that for the past eight months or so." James said, irked that a centaur of obviously no knowledge would doubt his skills.

"Am I correct?"

"Not quite. I am regarded as a very good wizard, and have, well, never mind what I have done. Just have it be sufficient that you could end up in my debt soon. Much sooner than I would like to imagine…" James said. For a battle of wits, they were both equally armed and capable of victory. But James had the upper hand as he left.

"Hey, Parvati. What's up chick?" Robert came down the rail in his usual style, a run down the banister.

"Nut'n much, mu homey!" Parvati said, and all three of them laughed.

"Hey, where are the rest of our posse?" Robert asked. "Why the hell are you…" Robert looked back and forth from James to Parvati. "You slut!" He said in a mock hurt voice.

"No! Nothing like that. Eh, no use hiding it, Parvati." She hit James.

"You cats. And dogs. But, hey. Let's try that Seamus call!" Robert said.

"What the hell?" James asked.

"Oh LEPRACHAUN!" Parvati and Robert said in a voice that closely imitated a leprechaun's squeek.

"Yes, sires?" Seamus came around the hall with Dean and Lavender.

"A threesome? All the man you need is right there!" Parvati pointed Lavender at James.

"Hey!" James said.

"There's an idea…" Lavender jumped at James, taking him to the ground and snogging him.

"Thanks, that gives us a clearer view of the area around us." Robert conjured signs not unlike wet floor signs that showed two stick figures in bed and said 'warning: Love Making in Progress; Floor Maybe Wet.'

"HEY! I AM NOT SLEEPING WITH YOU RIGHT HERE!" James shouted at Lavender, who despite James epic resistance, was close to getting James' jeans open.

"Oh, c'mon!" Lavender pleaded.

"Keep your pants on, purp. Looks as if Leo's gonna freak again." Parvati said.

"Freak? I don't freak." James said.

"You are a freak. Lavender's hot, just jump in bed with her!" Dean said.

"Are you coming on to my girlfriend, _sir_?" James said, looking threatening.

"Uh. No." Dean backed down.

"Good." James laughed. "We can eat breakfast now." James was always thinking with his stomach, which is why Lavender was still a virgin. Or at least one of the reasons.

"So, if you and Lavender aren't, can I?" Seamus said.

"Don't ask stupid questions. Here's a better one; can I?" Dean said.

"No. To both. I don't care what James says, no." Parvati said.

"What about my opinion?" Lavender asked.

"Ya know, purp, you aren't the best judge of what's best for you." James said.

"Shove it, Leo." Lavender said.

"Well, what have we got here, a group of Gryffindors who wish to be in trouble." Malfoy drawled behind them.

"Shove it, Malfoy." The six said as a group.

"Heh. And I thought there was no sense of humor left in the house." Malfoy said.

"Listen, you little prick. You go sleep with your pig for a girlfriend and we'll refrain from convicting you of the sin of sleeping with animals." Lavender said.

"Big words. Nothing to back it up." Malfoy sneered, and Crabbe and Goyle made it seem he was right.

"She has this to back it up." James pulled his wand, and he could see Malfoy fight the impulse to jump back.

"Do you not have better things to do than pull a wand on me, James?"

"Better than looking at your girlfriend." James said.

"Do you think your girlfriend is any better looking?" Malfoy grinned.

Robert had to hold James' arm to stop him from killing Malfoy then and there. "All right, I'll give you a sentence and you have to add the missing word. People do care about what Malfoy's opinion is."

"I know this one!" Dean said, and he pulled out his wand.

"How about you, Goyle. Care to guess?" Robert challenged.

"No." Goyle cracked his knuckles, and Dean almost took a step back, and then remembered that he was a wizard.

"And you, Crabbe?" Robert asked. "Or would you rather me call you Vincent? Or how about Vinny?"

Crabbe only growled, and pulled his wand.

"Incarcerous." James waved his wand, and Crabbe was wound in ropes thick as his wrist.

"Let us… Go." Malfoy left, not without one final sneer.

"Aren't you afraid of them?" Lavender asked.

"Not really." James said.

"But his dad… isn't he a death eater? A really high up one?" Lavender asked.

"Let me put it this way; Lucius Malfoy is perhaps one of the most powerful Death Eaters ever, but I am not afraid of Death Eaters. And, of course, Draco and his cronies cast spells like their wand's up their ass, so no fear there." James said, eliciting a chuckle at this.

"Crabbe could probably still manage a spell…" Parvati said, eliciting another chuckle.

"If he was smart enough to cast the spell in the first place." Dean said.

"So, Leo. We gonna harass Filch tonight? Or maybe Umbridge?" Seamus asked.

"Filch. At eleven. Purple? No trying to make love to me." James said, looking forward as if he was just reading off a list of rules.

"Aw." Lavender sighed. "I'll never be with James."

"Maybe, maybe you won't and I will!" Parvati said.

"NO!" James, Robert, and Lavender all said at the same time.

"Yet Dean and Seamus don't seem to mind." Parvati pointed out.

"That's because they're too busy keeping each other company to notice what we're talking about." James said, causing Dean and Seamus to flick little hunks of butter at him.

"Is there still snow on the ground?" Robert asked hopefully.

"Hell, forget jokes about the Leprachaun and the Tank Engine, let's fight in the snow!" James' eyes lit up.

"What're the teams?" Parvati asked.

"Snogging partners, You and Robert, Dean and Seamus. That leaves me and Purp."

"Hey!" Dean, Seamus, and Lavender said.

"Nah. Robert and I, Dean and Seamus, they'll be too busy making out to let snow fly, and Parvati? Take care of purp." James said. He only let fly the gay jokes at his other best friends because he knew they could handle it. Plus he simply liked their reaction.

"Whatever." They all said.

They all went outside, and James scoped the field. He and Robert used certain motion spells to build walls and stuff for their forts. They looked back and saw Parvati had scrounged some sort of shovel, and Lavender was using a heating charm with the combination of a freezing charm to make the walls as hard as ice, which wasn't too hard. Seamus was making a pile of slush balls and Dean was making a piece of shit castle. Once James and Robert finished their castle, they enchanted several snowballs to irradiate heat when they struck something. Seeing this as possibly detrimental if someone else thought of it, James put a heat-resisting charm on his snow fort.

"So. We gonna get this show on the road?" James asked.

"I spose." Lavender called. A barrage of snow balls was Dean's response, as well as a single slush ball by Seamus that connected with Parvati's face, dribbling slush into her clothes.

"AAHH!" Parvati screamed.

"Hey!" Robert said, throwing a helluva snowball at Seamus, who dispelled it with a clever heating charm.

"Got 'im" was the next phrase out of Jame's mouth, as he had smashed Seamus in the temple with a snowball of his own.

Soon after, the fight was over. They all went back in, with Parvati still whimpering from the slushball that smacked her face.

Now the halls were no longer safe for Gryffindors. Or for anyone, as it was clear knowledge that James was not willing to protect anyone. Since James had single handedly debilitated about half of the Slytherin quidditch team, he was at the top of their hit list now, and that meant that Gryffindor was at the top of the Slytherin hit list, and just what this meant was apperant in all of the corridors. Though never recorded, a record number of classroom brawls were taken to the corridors. This was not subtle, as the dealings between Gryffindor and Slytherin had been over the years, ever since the great Potions Fight of '77, but rather obvious as hexes were continuasly streaming down the corridors, and to simply watch Draco Malfoy in action confirmed everyone's suspiscions. The Gryffindors had more detentions in a month than the class of '78 in the school year of 76-77. And since Sirius was nearly expelled that year…

Yet as James looked around the school he realised that less and less of the old ways were remainng, and he had more excuses to practice the more, frowned upon, curses he had learned from Adi Musali. "In all, I have to say that there is not much of a more satisfying day than to cast the cruciatus curse on a Slytherin and come back to make out with Lavender."

Whenever James said this, Lavender inveriably returned, "I'd rather make love than make out." And James would blush a deep red.

The only inter house relationships that held up were those involving the DA or James' select group. Even Gobstones had been a dangerous club to go to, as most of the gobstones played with were switched from foul smelling liquids to something remarkably acidic in nature, and the only detection process for these fouled gobstones was to lose a point with each one and observe whether or not your face dissolved by the liquid. The Hufflepuff quidditch match was remarkably dirty, as each house attempted to kill the other, and Slytherin only won by ten points, they were so concentrated on murdering the opponent's players.

More than one jet of light flew across the field as each side attempted to hex the other, the Gryffindors as merciless as the next. Yet the feud was mostly between Slytherin and Gryffindor, who both made enemies of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, whom they tried to recruit. And since Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw stood for opposite views of intelligence and work (Hufflepuff stresses the need for work, and intelligence is secondary. Ravenclaw stresses the need for intelligence, and work is secondary.) caused bitter strife between the otherwise peacful houses. Madam Pomfrey was over worked and under paid during this period. Finaly, the straw came to break the back, as the one seemingly untouchable aspect of life at Hogwarts was threatened.

"James! DA tonight." Harry had said. "Not that you need it; you sure handled Montague nicely yesterday. But still, we're working on Patronuses, want to come?"

"Sure, it'll be fun!" James was referring to his practicing of command words.

"Right." Harry shook his head. A brilliant wizard like that who didn't know that a patronus was exceedingly difficult.

James turned. "Difinido!" a thin tear appeared in a Slytherin first-year's bag. The Slytherin turned and saw James, his expression one of dead terror. "What a response! Now, get going before I have to fight all of Slytherin." The two ducked into a hidden passage just as certain Slytherin 'patrolers' arrived on the scene.

In the final days of the feud, the Slytherins and Gryffindors were bogged down into some sort of eternal struggle, not unlike WW1. The only Slytherin not being hexed every wich way was Robert, and even he wasn't chummy with other houses, he just refused to partake in Gryffindor hunting. The DA was the only thing continuing at this point, and it had an even lowered turn out as it was difficult for anyone to make it to the room of requirement, since three steps from your common room would signal a barrage of curses. The Gryffindors and Slytherins, being the mainstay of the feud, were required to protect their first and second year students from the more vicious older students. The methods were two fold: every student under third-year was to wear a band around their wrist they could push a button when they were in trouble. A prefect would be summoned to the spot; usually a large posse arrived too, as James was difficult to bring down. Also, certain house members were regarded as 'Patrolers,' whose job was to search out trouble and lend a hand. All told, nearly an entire house would come to hotspots of trouble, nearly instantly. So the fight had dropped from fighting to a true war, with armies matching off against eachother in the halls.

"MCCADELL! DUCK!" The first helpful words James had heard in this feud, and he obeyed them as a spell of green light whipped over his head. He recognized the spell, and it nearly hit a first-year Gryffindor who was walking along, and she dropped her books and a little liquid seeped down to the floor. She also feinted.

"MALFOY! YOU MOTHER FUCKING WHORE!" James whipped out not his wand, but his sword and tore after the asshole. Attempting to kill James was just something that nearly anyone could do; but to randomly fire unforgivable curses into halls of people was, well, unforgivable. James would also serve something other than a hole in his cheek for a warning.

"Stupefy!" James dropped, and whipped out his wand.

"Molerus Eatht!" James shouted, a little known spell of Silverlode design, which was why it wasn't latin based. The shield took about twenty stunning spells before James bothered to dispell it.

He had run into a wall of Slytherins, who had apperantly provided themselves for the occaison. James had barely the sense to duck behind a statue and whisper the gaseous form spell, thanking his lucky stars he had left his books with Harry. James left, attempting to survive until the meeting in an hour.

"So. The incantation is "Expecto Patronum," Everyone say it." Harry said.

"Expecto patronum" Everyone said, James saw the tell-tale silver mist come from his wand.

"All right, is everyone concentrating on their happy moment?" Hary asked, and getting the affirmative from everyone, "Let's make some patronuses."

James, needless to say, was the first to produce such a charm, closely followed by Hermione. "Fear." James caused her Patronus to disappear as she felt true, unadulterated fear.

"What the hell was that?" Hermione looked sharply at James.

"A little fun with the prefect, duh."

"I want to practice, so leave me alone." She turned away.

"You know you want me."

"WHAT?"

"Expelliarmus." She tried to slap him, but couldn't find the heart. "Wow. Turns out your right. How often does that happen?"

"About once a day, sometimes two." James searched out Lavender.

"I can't do it, James. I guess my thought isn't happy enough." Lavender looked at him with her deep brown eyes.

"Here's one." James kissed her.

"Well, you know what would be even better?" Lavender's hands dropped.

"GET. YOUR. HANDS. OUT. OF. THERE. YOU. RANDY. GIRL!" Everyone in the immediate vicinity stared at them, i.e. Robert, Parvati, Dean, and Seamus, who knew the ongoing joke anyway.

"Do you want me to become prey to dementors?" The look Lavender pulled, in combination with what she said compelled James to either laugh hysterically or cave in. He chose to laugh.

"No. I'll just have to protect you, hmm?" James said.

"I could think of better investments of your time."

"EVERY ONE RUN!" The bellow came, and the six some took no time in following orders.

"Lavender, Parvati, go. Seamus, take care of them. Take a killing spell if you have to. Just get them safely out of trouble. Dean, Robert, we're going to see the headmaster." They took off at a run, jumping behind a statue as they saw several members of the squad hustle by. Robert cast a quick impediment curse on Malfoy as soon as they were safely out of harms way.

"At least Malfoy won't get anyone."

They continued to sprint up the stairs before colliding into McCgonnagall, who stopped them

"James, I have need of you right now. Dumbledore must leave the school. Help him escape, in the way only you know how to do."

"Yes ma'am." James turned to the others. "Dean, go let Lavender and Parvati know we haven't been expelled, but not even under threat of the cruciatus curse reveal what we are about to do. Robert? Let's hunt us some squad. I know the route Dumbledore will take, and I know the Slytherin patrol routes. I can clear a path, but only for a few minutes. Your job is to prevent any other, complications to my plan. GO!"

Dean and Robert tore off down the same hall, while James mused himself as he racked his brain for the answer to the puzzle before him. "Montague." He tore down the hall, about ready to hand out the second punishment of Montague in one day.

"Ah, McCadell. Guess what? I am going to have a little fin with you today." Montague attempted to curse him, but James was faster.

"Furnunculus!" The boils appeared all over Montague, as James was a bit over zelous in his defense of the halls. James turned. "I am unwilling to hex non-sentient beings, Parkinson. Also, I have pity for things fatter than over fed pigs."

"Come take me, then." Pansy stalked up to him, and struck with her fist!

"AAAAHHHH!" Pansy screamed as James grabbed her wrist and twisted itaround and behind her back, pinning her effectively.

"Now drop the wand." James ordered.

"But. AAHH!" James twisted harder.

"Drop it before I drop you." James said, poking her neck with his wand. She obeyed. "Good. You've figured out my game. Now; are there any patrols out tonight on the headmaster-entry hall route?" The main hallways were named for their various beginnings and ends, and the Headmaster-Entry route was a rather trafficked hall before their war, now, since it had fallen into the hands of Slytherin, it was relatively peaceful.

"No. We assumed no one would be stupid enough to try and re-take the hall."

"Can Ablus Dumbledore go through the hall unnoticed?"

"Why would you want to know?" Pansy sneered at him.

"Never mind. Can he?"

"I suppose."

"Good. Now. Run along, and if you behave well enough, you'll get your wand back in one piece. Misbehave…" James mimed snapping a wand in half.

Parvati sprinted away, even though her wand was of no use for her.

"Is the hallway clear?" The headmaster asked. "You need to come with me."

"The hallway's fine."

"Okay, let's go." The two tore down the hall.

"Expelliarmus!" Robert bellowed the spell at some sixth year Slytherin, who was much to afraid of Robert to return fire.

"You little swine, you're associating with the enemy, that's what you're doing. You would have been given a leadership role on the squad, and instead you turned treacherous. Yet it is against out will to put you in the custody of someone so, unforgiving, as Umbridge. Consider yourself lucky." Allen Grish said.

"I don't need luck in dealing with you." Robert turned down the hall and moved with astounding speed back to the Gryffindor tower. He knocked on the portrait.

"Why, hello dear. I am glad you're back, though we haven't seen other house mates enter the commons in a while. But you I like well enough, all of the other portraits speak rather highly of you." The fat lady swung open, as Lavender and Parvati swarmed out and pulled Robert into the room.

Seamus and Dean looked rather beat and worn, and Robert assumed they had to forcibly restrain Parvati and Lavender. "You two got back okay then?"

"We didn't." Seamus said, looking at Dean. "We ran into a group of Hufflepuff warriors, who tried to be fancy with us."

"I think three of them are in the Hospital wing, and the other two are wearing expressions of shock in their common room." Parvati allowed a smile.

"Where's James?" Lavender looked expectantly at the portrait.

"He. Well, he didn't come back." Robert said. "I'm sure he's okay, because he went off with Dumbledore, but he's not here."

"No."

"I'm sure he's okay, Lavender. There's no chance any of the auror gits could have taken on James." Robert scowled at Dean.

"NO!" Lavender had tears coming down now, not amused at the fact her boyfriend was being chased by Aurors.

"I'll have ten from each of you, for being sons of bitches, and another twenty for that scowl." Montague said, and he turned. "Oh, God I love being able to dock points from those-" He never finished the sentence.

Fred and George had snuck up behind him with the Vanishing Cabinet. They shoved him inside. "That'll teach him." George said, and then, "Would you do the honors, Fed?"

"Glad to, George." Fred sent him tumbling through the halls haphazardly. They walked down the Divination-Entry route. "Noticed, have you?" Fred said to Harry.

"The box is ready. Really is a pity James isn't here, he'd get a kick out of it." Fred said.

"Probably even more of a kick helping Dumbledore end You-Know-Who."

"Maybe. Help me get this box, yeah. Over there, this one's for her room."

"Hey, Daniel, want to take that box up to the North Tower? And Jeff, take this one to the dungeons. Special delivery for the Slytherins, as I bear them no more love than I do for Umbridge." George said.

"Sure." Came their replies.

"Well, I recon it's time to set the timers. What do you say?" Fred asked George.

"For an hour, then." George said, and they pulled out their wands and tapped the detenation packets.

Yeah, this one was a bit, well, longer. Possibly a bit stupider as well. Ah, what am, I complaining, no one reads me anyway. No one reads, sniff, no one cares (pretends to cry.)

Humor me and Review, Thanks I'd do it for you, Psycopath.02.

Also, we get to see Sirius Black a bit more in the next chapter. It gonna be coo.

Proud of you for getting this far, there's no one like home.


	14. Chapter 16

Cool, the chapter with Sirius Black, the biggest flirt ever to go to Hogwarts! And if you're old enough to read this fic, go check out "Snogwarts," it's fairly funny.

As usual, review the first, oh, fourteen, chapters before reading and reviewing here.

Oh, and one more thing. Read Riddleness' work. And ccbchunks. And

AND PENSIEVE!

Cause that one's cooler than you. And me.

Ah, on with the shit!

Chatpter 15: Fireworks and Wandworks.

"Hey, Lupin!" James said.

"Hi, James. How's school?" Lupin asked, who was a family friend of James.

"Take a wild guess." James rolled his eyes. "And Lavender Brown is still obsessed on how I won't sleep with her even though I am going out with her."

"Whatever. Not like Sirius and James at all!" Lupin smiled. "They would have been all over Lavender by now, and left you in the dust. 'Course you would have then turned them to dust."

"Who's turning who into dust?" Sirius came in.

"I would you and James." James said.

"And who are you?"

"I am James McCadell, a member of your order." James replied.

"I did, fib, to your god son, and every one else in that room during the summer. There is one underage wizard in the Order. That would be James here." Lupin said. "So where is Dumbledore?"

"I don't know. He's doing some stuff and will be here shortly. So why don't you guys tell me about yourself?" James asked. "Sirius, you look like you were both a flirt and the coolest guy in school, how was your time at Hogwarts?"

"Well, I, I spent a lot of time with my friends." Sirius said, giving a glance at Lupin.

"James, do that stunt you said you could do, the one that makes you called Leo?" Lupin turned to James, who popped into his leopard form, and popped back, amused at the stare Sirius gave him.

"How. The. Hell?" Was all Sirius managed.

"Dude, I know all about Remus' Lycanthropy, my dad left a letter in case he died. It told me to search out a man named Remus Lupin, my god father." James said. "And Remus told me about you four, and I thought it was cool."

"Well, okay, we walked around at night. It was fun. And then, we, well, myself and wormtail, played a joke on old Snape up at school. Moony wouldn't speak to me for months, and James was ticked too, as I could have gotten his girlfriend killed."

"But if you got Snape…" James trailed.

""But we didn't, and that's the important part." Sirius said bluntly.

"Well, he's still bitching about it. Yeah, you're not the only one to travel around the campus in animage form. Only my best friends know about it, and I've never been caught anyway." James gave a little chuckle. "When I figured it out, I decided to give Filch a helluva scare. You should have seen his face! If there's one thing he's used to, it's not a big cat staring him in the face."

"Ha!" Sirius laughed. "A leopard staring me down? My first inclination would be a spell, but we all know Filch's a squib."

"So how are you getting to Hogsmeade? There's no way the son of Marcus McCadell would only leave campus on Hogsmeade days." Remus said, smiling at James.

"I leave through the witch and that cave, the one that caved in? We fixed it and…"

"Used it to fight Umbridge. Don't blame you." Sirius said.

Nushome picked that point in time to show up. James quickly pulled the letter off of her and read it.

Dear James-

I thank you for your continual friendship that you have shown me, and your willingness to come together regardless of what separates us. I am willing to pick up where we left off when and if you come back. However, one thing will have changed. Let's see if you can figure it out!

Liesel (Capn' K)

And another owl, a school owl, then arrived, a howler in its clutches.

"Oh, crap. What girl have I mercilessly broken the heart of this time?" James joked, as not many of the girls at Hogwarts actually liked him. He read the return address. "Shit. What have I done to Lavender now?"

"_HOW DARE YOU! LEAVING WITHOUT WARNING, FORBIDDING ROBERT TO TELL US WHAT HAPPENED, COULD VERY WELL HAVE ENDED UP DEAD, EVEN KILLED! I EXPECTED BETTER OF THE MAN I LOVE REGARDLESS OF HOW HE FEELS ABOUT MY NEEDS! IF YOU DON'T COME BACK OR TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE DOING YOU MAY FIND YOURSELF SINGLE AT THE END OF THE WEEK! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MANAGED TO MAKE A CRIMINAL OF YOURSELF…"_

"Reducto." James waved his wand, and the howler ended.

"Wow. That's one crazed chick. What's that about her needs?"

"She has been after me in bed for about a month now, and I am tirelessly resisting her attempts." James smiled. "But as she's the woman in the relationship, I can't get too far."

"Ah, god-made love…"

"It may actually not last. You see, there's this girl I have had a crush on for about the last, oh, four years. See, she finally went out with me and I spent too much on her, and she got mad. Then I met Lavender." James said.

"Snooze and lose!" Sirius laughed. "Oh, I remember something like that. The girl down the street, she went to Durmstrang, and she and I had a fling during one summer break. Then she found out that I had slept with half the female population of Hogwarts, and suffered two weeks of silent treatment for that. After it was all over, she ended up a Death Eater and getting killed by your father."

"Oh." James' eyes drooped for a second. His father was a wonderful man, according to the people he had heard. Cruel, but not excessively so, fiery, but not to the level of aggressiveness. He had dueled Tom Riddle in his fifth year, when Riddle was in his seventh, and had won. He had won a special service to the school award for fighting off a dragon, the sort of thing seventh-year born to be hero's did. No one really grasped that he was a second-year when he and his best friend John Merino had beaten the shit out of the Chinese Fireball, just that he had help. He wasn't the best looking of the year, that was John, but the fact that he lived 'alone' throughout his scholastic career was enough to intrigue most ladies. Plus he wasn't ugly, just not wonderful.

His skill in classes was only paralleled by his best friend and Tom Riddle, and he had gained the fear and respect of every student outside of Slytherins of his year or higher. The only time another student had the balls to pull a wand on him in anger was some Gryffindor fifth year who thought Marcus had been hitting on his girlfriend, a third year hufflepuff. When the first year Marcus had accepted the duel, John Merino had come in as his second, over hearing the dueling challenge. Miraculously, though no so much after the exams had taken place, Marcus had pulled a near-single handed victory that landed the Gryffindor in the hospital wings, and the hufflepuff in his bed. The Hufflepuff was in his bed again the minute Marcus left Hogwarts, and stayed there until Marcus died, the day Lily and James died.

And yet, as he had never had the chance to see his father, he wished he had something more. Perhaps a letter, or a memoir, or something. All he really had was a pensieve half-used, and three-quarters of that was his mother's memories. He had not yet come across one of his dad's entries to the family pensieve.

"You okay, James?" Remus had seen him go sort of zoned.

"Yeah. I, I, I am fine. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"I never knew my dad." James said, bit stupid though. His dad's next best friend after John had been Remus Lupin, as Remus shared a condition with Marcus' deceased half-brother, Luke. But unlike Luke, Remus survived without wizard poachers after him. That damn luck, always against the Ask family.

"No duh. He died the day Lily and James did. Actually, your mother was in hiding. An interesting point is that she found out her husband died the same day she found out she was pregnant with a boy. She raised you for four years, then she was killed as Lord Mitalian attempted to kill her and her second husband. Then Mitalian tried to kill you. It didn't work, so he used a memory charm to make you forget your lineage, and hid you amongst muggles."

"Why didn't the spell work?"

"Well, one theory is that you simply didn't interest him enough for him to kill you. He was, of course, totally against the killing spell, and so he used the Transmogrifan Torture, but that only works on your enemies, of course, so he couldn't really count a four-year-old as an enemy could he?" Remus smiled. "But why didn't he kill you some other way? Thus comes the next theory, held by our dear John Merino himself. He theorized that you had some part yet to play, and as such could not die until the appointed time. He himself laughed that one off, I think."

"Anyway, my point was, we have a family pensieve and none of my fathers memories are in there."

"Your father hated pensieves, and he would have destroyed one before using it. He felt that he couldn't trust a pool of his memories to not find their way into enemy hands. And he was right; the 'McCadell' pensieve had fallen into Mitalian's hands for a while before being recovered."

"So my father hadn't put any entries into it?"

"Now that isn't entirely true. A few times he was forced to put certain memories into the pensieve, but I think he rated them. Probably R. As in you couldn't see them even if you came across them, as they would shield themselves from your view, sensing your true age." Remus smiled at the thought of his old friend and his little quirks. "In fact, he never told us how he met your mother, that information came from Marie herself."

"So, when am I going back to school?"

"I have something to say on that matter, at least." John walked into the room.

"JOHN!" James cried, and ran into his godfather's hands.

"Hey James, how's it going." John lived for moments when James would humble himself. John was neither as noble as James or as fair destined, and James was to become even more powerful that John was now.

"You know, running away from school, becoming a fugitive, helping the number one most wanted Englishman escape, the usual."

"Any sex, drugs, or sensless violence in your life I should be lecturing you about?"

"None that I know of."

"And how many toilet seats have you blown up this week?"

"None."

"James, james, james… you really need to get your act together! There's only so much time and so many seats in Hogwarts. What am I going to do with you?"

"It is prank time. Ever hear of Dolores Umbridge?" James asked, and was shocked to see an expression of hate come across his godfather's face.

"If your father were here, he would hand you a lethal poison, teach you how to hypnotize house elves, and figure out which food Umbridge ate. As it is only me now, I must fill in for him.

"Back in the day, about forty two? Dolores was at school with us. She was a prefect from Slytherin, and the only person apart from older students to bug us. And she annoyed us consistently. Finally, she began finding out about certain things, misdemeanors and acts that would cause a few points worth of loss for our houses, and started to record them. Then, in the beginning of our seventh year; she had apparently exaggerated a large portion of the charges, she blackmailed your father, who returned with a show of force. Umbridge wasn't found for the rest of the day. The next day, your father was arrested for the murder of a muggle born, as well as the torturing of countless other students, repeated use of the Cruciatus curse, and about ten accounts of attempted murder. Marcus was being tried for being the Heir of Slytherin, and that's why Hagrid had gotten off.

"Marcus went to prison, as this was in the time before Veritaserum, and became reserved. A week later, several witnesses dissolved the charges and Umbridge was given a warning by the Ministry, but Marcus was scared from that point on with fear, madness, and an everlasting hate for Umbridge. A hate so large it would have ended in Umbridge's death, if not for Dumbledore and Voldemort. Voldemort killed Marcus, and Dumbledore seemed able to restrain Marcus from casting the killing spell at Dolores at every opportunity. Though his hate wasn't so unwarranted, she had sent him wrongfully to Azkaban. Bitch." John spat at the thought of it.

"That's horrible!" Remus said, and Sirius pulled his wand.

"I'm going to finish Marcus' work." Sirius started moving towards the fire place.

"No." Not Remus or John, but James said this one. "If anyone finishes my father's work, it'll be me. I'll get her out of Hogwarts and pursue her until her death. But no one else, not even you John."

"I can't allow that foul, acromantula, to sit and threaten my son!" Sirius said.

"If she moves towards your son, the words Avada and Kedavra will fly out of my mouth faster than a snitch on steroids." James promised. "And if she lays a hand on Harry, she better damn well hope Dumbledore's around to restrain me, or she'll meet the combined fury of Sirius Black, James McCadell, Marcus McCadell, Harry Potter, and the Silverlode." To emphasize this point he whipped his wand through the air, causing sparks to form. The sparks took shape in the words 'Cruciatus' and 'death.'

Daniel had hardly set down the box when they went off. He knew it was his fault, he knew that he shouldn't have been so close to the hour limit, but the Squad had delayed him unintentionally with their new patrol around the North Tower. But still, the boxes had nearly burned him alive.

Knowing the affect they had when you tried to vanish them, Daniel had a bit of fun testing this effect. It worked like a charm, and he suddenly had an army of fireworks following him, spreading about the castle, flaming all within reach.

"Cool!" Jeffery saw the dragons. "You like them, Cho?"

"They're fine." Cho sniffed. She didn't like Jeffery, as he was a bit, relaxed, for her. He was always making a sex joke, always adding a funny tidbit, and above all, nearly always in detention. Why, just the other day he had made a lewd comment about her and Davies, and a teacher had over heard. He was back in the common room complaining about a sore arm at one.

"Well, that's okay, they won't hurt the ugly one's either…" Terry smiled.

"Hear that, Cho? You and your boyfriend are safe!" The table laughed.

"Why, you little!" Suddenly Professor Sinistra showed up behind Cho, who was strangling Jeffery.

"Something wrong, miss Chang?"

"Not at all, professor." Cho let Jeffery go, who was in silent fits of laughter.

"Then may I ask as to why you were attempting to strangle Moodi?"

"I, um, was giving him a hug?" Clearly Cho was a horrible liar.

"Right. Detention tonight. Come by my office at oh-six hundred tonight." Sinistra left.

"How dare you." Cho turned and saw Jeffery laughing at her.

Eight point three seconds later, Jeffery was tearing down the hallway to the door.

"MOODI, CHANG!" Sinistra shouted across the hall, and everyone had stopped to watch Cho chase Jeffery out of the Great Hall.

"You play quidditch? You run slower than a concussed sloth!" Jeffery shouted, trotting backwards, looking at Cho. Cho's look made him go a bit faster.

Cho made another lunge, which Jeffery dodged, and Jeffery took off up the stairs, frantically thinking of where he could escape from the hormonally crazed freak chasing him across the castle. Suddenly Jeffery had the thought; the girl's dormitories for the fourth year.

"Hey, Cho! Look, it's Harry!" Jeffery pointed over Cho's shoulder, and she stopped and looked around. Taking this as a cue, Jeffery sprinted to the Ravenclaw common room as fast as possible.

He walked into the common room, and walked calmly to the girls dorms. In Ravenclaw, someone had long since dispelled the charm on the stairs, so they could get to their girlfriend, as the story went it was some guy named Marcus something. But somehow the teachers found out, and put the stairway charm back up. Ever since, there has been a little slip of parchment passed down from year to year, and it contained detailed instructions on how to get through the barrier. Every year it was passed from the sixth years to the fifths, and on the first night of school was a traditional Ravenclaw panty raid, always and only against the fifth-year girls. Sort of a, "Welcome! You've read 'Hogwarts, A History' and you know we can't get in, so we thought we'd stop by and say hello!" for the fifth year girls, who always got their underwear back the next day, though it was often a different color than it started out with, and the girls spent their next three days without underwear as they hunted for the jinxes and enchantments the boys put on the panties. Then a four-week war between the boys and girls occurred, and was officiated by the sixth years, who often had to call the war short because someone ended up in the hospital wing under the affects of a serious curse.

But for the most part, this was all in good fun, and even all (emphasis on all) of the girls thought of it as nothing more than a little tradition, no more personal than, say, peeves throwing water balloons. It was a nuisance, but hell, at least the boys had fun. And often when the girls figured out who stole their underwear (person to person) they found their boyfriend for the rest of the year.

In any case, Jeffery tore up the steps after muttering the words that gave him a female aura.


	15. Chapter 17

Chapter 16: Setting the Stage

O.W.L.s were upon them. Though James and Robert didn't need to study (Robert was in fourth and James had already taken them) they could feel their pressure. Both of the girls Lavender and Parvati had become more and more reserved, unable to converse about anything other than exams. James himself was often the victim of leg locker curses and full body binds. Though he patiently explained that the leg locker 'curse' was actually a jinx, they thoroughly ignored him. James had a distinct feeling that their highest combined grade would be about an eighty, or an E.

James had done a bit of O.W.L. work with Hermione and a few Ravenclaws, but soon realized that they would require actual work to do well on those tests. James was quickly kicked out for not taking the group seriously. To top things off, the squad (being thumped soundly in the last few skirmishes) had ceased their attacks on James' crew of stalwart defenders. When James looked back upon this time, he realized he probably should have been randomly figuring out spells. Instead, he was bringing Robert Melendino up to speed for his fifth year, which would be taken at Davis Acadamy.

"NO! You can't do that anymore. That sort of wave will alter your spell, just go straight up and down, like that. Good. Now, the incantation." James had been training Robert until the end of spring break, and Robert was now an excellent wizard. But soon loomed a date he could not utterly avoid; career advice.

"I know you are planning on going to work in America, but have you any thoughts as to what you want to be?" James smirked at the look on Umbridge's face, one of triumph. She still thought James was on her side.

"Yeah. I'd like to fight tyranny." James enjoyed the smile even more. It was like she was goading him on into removing her from power.

"Wouldn't we all. But what career, what job? Surely there must be something that interests you."

"I would like to play Quidditch for the S.F. Niners." James said.

"A _realistic_ goal, McCadell. You aren't good enough to play professional quidditch; you aren't even good enough to play at school!"

James laughed even more. Umbridge was clueless as hell, still smiling away, and McCgonnagle was telling him how bad at quidditch he was! It was like a strange dream in a way… "The quidditch environment is much different in the US. I am pretty good for the skill level over there."

"Perhaps. But what career will you fall back on? If you get hurt or something?"

"Probably work for the Ministry of America. They need wizards, much like your Aurors, though these wizards are called SWAS; Special Wands And Spells. So think like an Auror."

"Grades. That's the important thing. You should take potions, transfiguration, DADA, Charms, and you'll need one more. Better make that something you're strong in… Ancient Runes. That's a good one, because dark magic is usually heavily based in ancient runes."

You wouldn't know the half of it. James thought. "So, what grades to I need to work on?"

"Well, let's see… Flitwick wants an A, you have an O, Snape wants an O, you have an O-, I want an E, you have an O, Umbridge wants an E-, A+, you have an O+, the runs teacher wants an A-, you have a, big surprise here, O. It looks as if you need a little bit of work in Potions, but that seems to be it."

Whatever, James thought. Potions isn't my class anyhow. "Okay."

"There are also other aptitude tests. I think you might pass those, but your character is in question."

Aptitude, to fight the dark arts. Please, I eat death eaters for breakfast! James thought.

"Well, send the next one in." James left.

Harry was after him, but James didn't see him anywhere. He was tempted to go back to class until he was tugged at the shoulder by one of the Weasly twins.

"You're with us."

"Uh, okay?" James watched himself get pulled down the corridor. "What's up?"

"Remember how we said we were working on the portable swamp? We're ready to set it off." Fred grinned.

"We only need someone to use a spell to attract everyone to the corridor it will be set off in." George said.

"Well, I'll let you know if I think of anyone…" James wasn't in the mood to do a stupid prank.

"Dumbass. C'mon, you're with me." Fred dragged James. "You haven't had enough to do lately, and a spot on your resume would do well."

"But, O.W.L.s…" James said.

"Nonesense. Unimportant. All that's necessary is a clear head and skill with a wand."

"Well, yeah, but, okay!" James had found the spell that would be perfect.

"Quickly, this way!" The girl was being led by a portrait. Strange.

"Where are we going?" The third-year asked. She had just seen a few cute boys, and was talking to them when this mad painting had pulled her away.

"I don't know, but keep coming. Do you know James McCadell, the Gryffindor? He wants you."

The girl nearly died there of ecstacy. After all, James was a fifth year, and very skilled at magic. It was the dream of most third year girls to hold hands with him. "Alright."

She saw the swamp, and watched as an allagator snapped it's mouth at her. She screamed, and within seconds people started flooding the corridors. James made himself absent from the festivities.

After George and Fred had left the school, as it is told in Rowling's book, people were struggling to become the most famous of the trouble makers, but no team was as efficient and scary as James and Robert. Having great stores of trick stuff shipped daily to a spot in Hogsmeade, it was almost deadly how much they could prank in one day, and not be drained. Also, they had become the go-to guys for stinkpellets and dungbombs. Often people were paid to drop the bombs in halls for the twosome, in order to save time.

Filch, though he always had his horsewhip handy, could never get back to James and his group of ten-odd soldiers, working tirelessly against the squad. Soon after Fred and George's escape, James and his crew had scored their first seemingly permanent victory.

"I hate them." Warrington and Bullstrode were in a dark hall, wands drawn with night-vision spells on their eyes. "The bastards. They strike, causing Umbridge to send us into this damn inferno, and then we have to fight wizards who are unbeatable!"

"Forget it, Warrington. You're not going to get away from this now, we need to simply follow orders, and we'll be okay." Millicent turned, and saw the movement. "There!" She hissed.

"I got it. I'll go, you stay."

Like a well-oiled machine they moved. Millicent staying behind and covering Warrington, and Warrington training his wand everywhere. Unfortunately, Millicent Bullstrode was not nearly skilled enough to handle a full alert Robert Mellendino. After being stunned, and slowly dropped to the ground, it appeared as if Millicent was all they were after.

"Floccous cutis" Whispered a voice from behind Montague, and Montague screamed in pain from the spell's effect. The shadows left.

"What the hell was that?" Draco whirled about, and was face to face with Seamus Finnigan.

Draco struck Seamus across the face, causing Seamus to flinch and duck back. Seamus returned by kicking Draco's shin, which caused Malfoy to fall to the ground. Taking out his wand, he felt very large hands grab him from behind, cutting off his wind.

"Furnunculus." Parvati said the spell instantly, and Goyle growled in pain. Crabbe smashed Parvati in the face, and she went flying one way, and her wand another.

Meanwhile, Parkinson had caught Lavender from behind. "Ferveo!" The other boiling hex, the one that _really_ 'boiled' the skin, was flung at the girl.

"Pro, Recissio!" Lavender decided to try the reversal spell. Two boiling hexes flew at Parkinson, who dodged them both.

"I don't know, but I have this terrible feeling that we're missing something. Voldemort's return, it seems too planned, overly planned. Why doesn't he take this prophecy, or figure out what it says some other way? Lord Mitalian has heard it, and he was about to set in motion his plan for global dominence. Then the accident happened. And the Orc in the Rockys are a bit restless. I don't know, maybe we're missing something." John turned, and looked at James.

"Or maybe you're reading too far into it. Maybe there's nothing, and you're imagining it. Or maybe we haven't gotten the whole picture, and some move from Voldemort has riled the orcs against him? Don't rule these out. I would suggest keeping a bigger watch on the sierras, and fortifying the Butes. Alert the border goblins, the standard moves." James said. "I don't know either, but maybe we need to protect ourselves this time…"

It was a very busy week for James and Robert, preparing for O.W.L.s and NEWTS (Robert had to take OWLs before his fifth year, and James also suggested NEWTs, as they always came in handy), and continuing there struggle against the squad. They managed to mix the studying with the fighting, like the transfiguration lesson that involved changing humans into other animals, and partial changes. After the first lesson, Pansy had become a duck, a squid, a jackalobe, a donkey, and ended up with a pair of antlers ("It's okay, she'll grow to like them.") All in all, Robert (after acing his OWLs) was ready for his NEWTs, and James had finished his HILLs by the time the last quidditch match arrived.

"And Here's the Gryffindor team, Andrew Kirke, Jack Sloper," these names were met with Boos from around the stadium, as they were boring as hell. Even the Slytherins preferred watching the Weasly twins to these morons, "Johnson, Weasly, Bell, and Spinnet. Wow, they're really bad with the loss of the twins, and I'm really bored with the loss of the twins. What a match, bad team versus great team. Well, Slytherins should be happy, but there not. No one would be happy to watch this team play." Lee stopped bashing the Gryffindor 'team' long enough to announce the Ravenclaw team and record the first score. Soon after Harry and Hermione had left with Hagrid, however, "Kirke has been knocked out! That's a surprise, never seen a beater miss like that before. If I had a re-play device, I would show you just how awfully bad that play was, and I can see large numbers of you cringing from the memory of it. It looks as if he tried to _stab_ the bludger, missed, and tried to ward it off with his face! Wow, that was dumb. Fortunatly for Gryffindor, and all those who wish to remain awake for the rest of this game, Kirke is coming off."

James was on the field again, cringing and spitting the bitter taste of that last play out of his mouth. That was the sort of play you expect to happen with bad _six year olds_, not school team quidditch players. He saw Angelina coming towards hime.

"McCadell, can you play? We're short a beater, and we need you."

"Damn. Okay, I guess, but no celebration in my honor if we win."

"Deal. Just grab your damn broom and get playing."

James did just that. After one last wincing thought of Kirke's poor play, he grabbed the now noseless Kirke's bat, and got up into the air, amidst chears from his few select friends, and a tirade of boos from Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

"James McCadell is substituted for Andrew Kirke, and what a welcome change that is. All right, here's the quaffle boys."

James looked about for the first bludger he would pummel Chang with. He was angry for her bone-headedness in dealing with Harry (though Harry wasn't much better) and decided that what she needed was the tears wacked out of her. Since there were no rules against _nearly_ hitting, maiming, and/or killing the opponents seeker (yes, you are allowed to do the above things to your own seeker), he decided he would try the Pro. Beater's move, trademarked by Bagman himself. He charged the seeker, and thrust his fist. Cho, in surprise, fell off her broom. James flew up and hit a bludger at her. He kept smashing her in with the same bludger until she was in a position to become a pancake form the House of Chang. He caught her bloody mass and set her down gently. Davies called a time-out, shouted with Madam Hooch, who awarded Gryffindor a penalty, and the Gryffindor squad huddled up.

"Wow. James, that was awesome, but I want you to turn your attention away from that bloody pulp over there, she's done. How about there keeper, or maybe Davies himself? They're both good suggestions. Oh, and Ron, I _knew_ you had it in you."

"What's the score?" James asked.

"Only 30-10, and Ron blocked seven shots. Isn't that impressive?"

"Yeah, sure is." James was suddenly distracted. He remembered how at his old school, Liesel would have blocked twice as many without breaking into a sweat. But Ron looked amazingly proud, and he looked like he'd just ran a marathon.

"All right, Ron, keep up dat good work! James? Chasers and Keeper, not seeker."

"Yeah, whatever."

"And Play resumes, after an injury time-out by the Ravenclaw team. Cho looked bad there, but she's up and okay, safely flying there, though carefully staying away from James. James, meanwhile, unseats a chaser, while Sloper lobs another bludger for the stronger James to smash, which hits Davies in the back of the head. Ouch, this is more like a shooting match for the Gryffindor beater. Man alive, that man won't be alive much longer if James continues hitting like this. Ron, makes, well, another save! This is pretty impressive, what with everything else going on, that Ron finally makes up for the amazing lack of talent he showed this season. Of course, the Chasers have their hands full at the moment, trying to deal with two beaters against, and only one now (thank god Kirke's out)" that remark had Mcgonnagel nodding in agreement "for them, all things considered, they're doing a great job. But it does help that with James' pummeling of Davies, Ravenclaw basically has only two chasers. Wow, it's amazing how this team falls apart without Chang or Davies. Chang, by the way, has been substituted by some ravenclaw, I guess he's a reserve, but, you never know. Oh, and here's a Gryffindor time out. Score still set at 30-10, but that's only due to some amazing play by the Ravenclaw keeper."

James suddenly had a headache, and landed. "All right, scoring isn't working, so, Gin? Catch that damn snitch."

"Don't call me Gin."

"And, James? Surely you are the best beater at your school. Thanks for helping us out, but why didn't you try out for beater in the first place?"

"Because you insist on calling me Shirley." James left.

Later, James walked in on Ginny sitting on the couch.

"Don't you have a girlfriend you should be getting to?" Ginny asked, seemingly moping about something.

"Shouldn't someone as beautiful as yourself have a boyfriend to get to?" James returned. "It seems to me that you can't be waiting for someone to express interest in you, when you sit with such wonderful shape. Seriously, do you eat?" James could always make her laugh. "But because Ron is such a good friend, I think going out with you would feel like dating my little sister."

Ginny just stared. "Have you been…"

"Reading your diary? No. And even though Ron has been, I didn't get this information from him. I am a sufficiently accomplished ligilimens that I can tell when someone is asking pointed questions. I can also sense your basic motive in all of this. I have a slightly accented version of ligilimens, I usually can't detect lies, but can detect the motive for saying certain things. And even then, only when the subject is under extreme emotional stress, such as what happens to you about once a month…"

Ginny blushed. "How'd you…"

"Know? I just guessed. After all, you had an encounter with Voldemort himself, and you managed to survive, which shows a toughness of character that neither your brother or Harry share in the slightest. I have never seen you voulnerable, except a small amount of time every 29 days and three hours. I used that knowledge, pluss the knowledge they believe every person over the age of 9 is required to know over in America to decide what was going on. Don't worry, it's nothing you should feel embarrassed about. At my school, all the boys know the girls' times. It's basically the 'hands-off' period of every girl at my school, no pun intended. But, we're getting off the subject. Why do you feel that only I can make you happy?"

"You, your just what Harry was to me a few years ago, honorable, capable, very, very handsome, at least to me. And the friend of my brother. All I ever heard about was Harry's accomplishments, excepting fourth year of course, but I never expected that someone else would have such admirable qualities, and would come from such a hell hole as America."

"I should take you overseas sometime. Anyway, I like you. I really do. Just not like that. I have a very platonic love for you, and I don't know how else to describe it."

"Well, you should get back to Lavender then. She wants you very much." Ginny went back to moping.

James sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder, and she sank her head into him. "Listen, kid. I, hey, if things go entirely well, we'll have our chance some day, and then you can decide if you like me. Until then, just remember that we can be immortal, but crushes fade." James kissed the top of her head. "I'll see you later. And try not to kill your brother."

"Fat chance." Ginny said. "Oh, and James?"

"Yes, Gin?"

"We can still be friends, right?"

"Yeah. Duh, I wouldn't want it any other way, Gin."

"And another thing, James?"

"What's up now?"

"Don't call me Gin."

"Whatever, Gin." James laughed and ducked as a book flew his way. Fortunatley the last book thrown hit the back of the portrait instead of his face. As he closed the door, the fat lady scowled at him.

"Calm down in there. You could knock me off the wall!"

"Sorry, milady." James bowed, and left.

"Lavender! What a surprise!" James had been waiting at the entrance of the library. "You've been waiting how long for this?" James asked, waving downward.

"Oh, a couple of months. Do I finally get it?" Lavender looked up.

"No. You have to study. But maybe Spring will show you some love."

"Doubtfull, I can't stand you." James said, smiling.


End file.
